PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


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The  Treasury  of  Ancient  Egypt 


"man  is  explicable  by  nothing  less  than  all  his  history." 

— Emerson. 


4 


{Photo  by  N.  Macnaghten. 

A  statue  of  the  hawk-g-od  Horus  in  front  of  the  temple  of  Edfu. 
The  author  stands  beside  it. 


Frontispiece. 


The  Treasury  of 
A  ncient  Egypt 

Miscellaneous  Chapters  on  Ancient 
Egyptian  History  and  Archaeology 


ARTHUR  E.  P.  B.  WEIGALL 

INSPECTOR-GENERAL  OF  UPPER  EGYPT,  DEPARTMENT  OF  ANTIQUITIES 

AUTHOR  OF   'TRAVELS  IN  THE  UPPER  EGYPTIAN  DESERTS,'  'THE  LIFE  AND 
TIMES  OF  AKHNATON,  PHARAOH  OF  EGYPT,'  (A  GUIDE  TO  THE 
ANTIQUITIES  OF  UPPER  EGYPT,'  ETC.,  ETC. 


RAND  McN ALLY  & 

CHICAGO  AND  NEW 
1912 


COMPANY 

YORK 


V 


TO 

ALAN  H.  GARDINER,  ESQ., 

M.A.,  D.LiTT. 

LAYCOCK  STUDENT  OF  EGYPTOLOGY  AT  WORCESTER 
COLLEGE,  OXFORD, 

THIS  BOOK, 

WHICH  WILL  RECALL  SOME  SUMMER  NIGHTS  UPON 
THE  THEBAN  HILLS, 

IS  DEDICATED. 


PREFACE 


No  person  who  has  travelled  in  Egypt  will  require 
to  be  told  that  it  is  a  country  in  which  a  consider- 
able amount  of  waiting  and  waste  of  time  has  to 
be  endured.  One  makes  an  excursion  by  train  to 
see  some  ruins,  and,  upon  returning  to  the  station, 
the  train  is  found  to  be  late,  and  an  hour  or  more 
has  to  be  dawdled  away.  Crossing  the  Nile  in  a 
rowing-boat  the  sailors  contrive  in  one  way  or 
another  to  prolong  the  journey  to  a  length  of  half 
an  hour  or  more.  The  excursion  steamer  will  run 
upon  a  sandbank,  and  will  there  remain  fast  for  a 
part  of  the  day. 

The  resident  official,  travelling  from  place  to 
place,  spends  a  great  deal  of  time  seated  in  railway 
stations  or  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  waiting  for 
his  train  or  his  boat  to  arrive ;  and  he  has,  there- 
fore, a  great  deal  of  time  for  thinking.  I  often  try 
to  fill  in  these  dreary  periods  by  jotting  down  a 
few  notes  on  some  matter  which  has  recently  been 


viii 


Preface. 


discussed,  or  registering  and  elaborating  argu- 
ments which  have  chanced  lately  to  come  into  the 
thoughts.  These  notes  are  shaped  and  "written 
up"  when  next  there  is  a  spare  hour,  and  a  few 
books  to  refer  to  ;  and  ultimately  they  take  the 
form  of  articles  or  papers,  some  of  which  find 
their  way  into  print. 

This  volume  contains  twelve  chapters,  written 
at  various  times  and  in  various  places,  each 
dealing  with  some  subject  drawn  from  the  great 
treasury  of  Ancient  Egypt.  Some  of  the  chap- 
ters have  appeared  as  articles  in  magazines. 
Chapters  iv.,  v.,  and  viii.  were  published  in 
1  Blackwood's  Magazine ' ;  chapter  vii.  in  1  Put- 
nam's Magazine '  and  the  '  Pall  Mall  Magazine ' ; 
and  chapter  ix.  in  the  *  Century  Magazine.'  I 
have  to  thank  the  editors  for  allowing  me  to  re- 
print them  here.  The  remaining  seven  chapters 
have  been  written  specially  for  this  volume. 

Luxor,  Upper  Egypt, 
November  1910. 


CONTENTS. 


PART  I.— THE  VALUE  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

CHAP.  PAGE 

L   THE  VALUE  OF  ARCHEOLOGY  ...  3 

II.   THE  EGYPTIAN  EMPIRE  .  .  .  .26 

III.  THE  NECESSITY  OF  ARCHEOLOGY   TO   THE  GAIETT  OF 

THE  WORLD        .....  55 

PART  II. — STUDIES  IN  THE  TREASURY. 

IV.  THE  TEMPERAMENT  OF  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS  .  81 
V.  THE  MISFORTUNES  OF  WENAMON          .              .  .112 

VI.  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SHIPWRECKED  SAILOR      .  .138 

PART  III.— RESEARCHES  IN  THE  TREASURY. 

VII.  RECENT  EXCAVATIONS  IN  EGYPT  .  .  .165 

VIII.  THE  TOMB  OF  TIY  AND  AKHNATON     .  .  .185 

IX.  THE  TOMB  OF  HOREMHEB       ....  209 

PART  IV. — THE  PRESERVATION  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

X.  THEBAN  THIEVES        .  .  .  .239 

XI.  THE  FLOODING  OF  LOWER  NUBIA        .  .  .261 

XII.  ARCHEOLOGY  IN  THE  OPEN   .  .  .282 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


A  STATUE  OF  THE  HAWK-GOD  HORUS   IN  FRONT  OF 
THE  TEMPLE  OF   EDFU.     THE  AUTHOR  STANDS 

beside  it  .  .  Frontispiece 

L  the  mummy  of  rameses  el  of  DYNASTY  XIX. 

II.  WOOD  AND  ENAMEL  JEWEL-CASE  DISCOVERED  IN  THE 
TOMB  OF  YUAA  AND  TUAU.  AN  EXAMPLE  OF 
THE  FURNITURE  OF  ONE  OF  THE  BEST  PERIODS 
OF  ANCIENT  EGYPTIAN  ART  . 

III.  HEAVY    GOLD    EARRINGS    OF    QUEEN    TAUSERT  OF 

DYNASTY    XX.     AN     EXAMPLE    OF    THE  WORK 
OF  ANCIENT  EGYPTIAN  GOLDSMITHS  . 

IV.  IN  THE  PALM-GROVES  NEAR  SAKKARA,  EGYPT 
V.  THE  MUMMY  OF  SETY  I.   OF  DYNASTY  XIX. 

VI.  A  RELIEF  UPON  THE  SIDE  OF  THE  SARCOPHAGUS 
OF  ONE  OF  THE  WIVES  OF  KING  MENTUHOTEP 
III.,  DISCOVERED  AT  DER  EL  BAHRI  (THEBES). 
THE  ROYAL  LADY  IS  TAKING  SWEET-SMELLING 
OINTMENT  FROM  AN  ALABASTER  VASE.  A 
HANDMAIDEN    KEEPS    THE    FLIES    AWAY  WITH 

A  bird's-wing  FAN 

VII.  LADY    ROUGING    HERSELF  :    SHE    HOLDS    A  MIRROR 
AND  ROUGE-POT  .... 
DANCING  GIRL  TURNING  A  BACK  SOMERSAULT 


xii 


Illustrations. 


VIII.  TWO  EGYPTIAN  BOYS  DECKED  WITH  FLOWERS  AND 
A  THIRD  HOLDING  A  MUSICAL  INSTRUMENT. 
THEY  ARE  STANDING  AGAINST  THE  OUTSIDE 
WALL  OP  THE  DENDEREH  TEMPLE       .  .  82 

IX.  A  GARLAND  OP  LEAVES  AND  FLOWERS  DATING  FROM 
ABOUT  B.C.  1000.  IT  WAS  PLACED  UPON  THE 
NECK  OF  A  MUMMY     .  .  .  .94 

X.  A  RELIEF  OF  THE  SAITIC  PERIOD,  REPRESENTING 
AN  OLD  MAN  PLAYING  UPON  A  HARP,  AND  A 
WOMAN  BEATING  A  DRUM.  OFFERINGS  OF 
FOOD  AND  FLOWERS  ARE  PLACED  BEFORE 
THEM  .....  100 

XI.  AN  EGYPTIAN  NOBLE  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  DYNASTY 
HUNTING  BIRDS  WITH  A  BOOMERANG  AND 
DECOYS.  HE  STANDS  IN  A  REED-BOAT  WHICH 
FLOATS  AMIDST  THE  PAPYRUS  CLUMPS,  AND  A 
CAT  RETRIEVES  THE  FALLEN  BIRDS.  IN  THE 
BOAT  WITH  HIM  ARE  HIS  WIFE  AND  SON  .  108 
XII.  A  REED  BOX  FOR   HOLDING   CLOTHING,  DISCOVERED 

IN  THE  TOMB  OF  YUAA  AND  TUAU      .  .118 

XIII.  A  FESTIVAL  SCENE  OF  SINGERS  AND  DANCERS  FROM 

A  TOMB-PAINTING  OF  DYNASTY  XVII.    .  .133 

XIV.  A  SAILOR  OF  LOWER  NUBIA  AND  HIS  SON  .  .144 
XV.   A  NILE  BOAT  PASSING  THE  HILLS  OF  THEBES  .  159 

XVI.  THE   EXCAVATIONS   ON    THE    SITE  OF   THE   CITY  OF 

ABYDOS  .....  166 

XVII.  EXCAVATING  THE  OSIREION  AT  ABYDOS.  A  CHAIN 
OF  BOYS  HANDING  UP  BASKETS  OF  SAND  TO 
THE  SURFACE  .  .  .  .175 

XVIII.  THE  ENTRANCE  OF  THE  TOMB  feF  QUEEN  TIY,  WITH 
EGYPTIAN  POLICEMAN  STANDING  BESIDE  IT.  ON 
THE  LEFT  IS  THE  LATER  TOMB  OF  RAMESES  X.  186 


Illustrations. 


xiii 


XIX.  TOILET-SPOONS    OF    CARVED    WOOD,    DISCOVERED  IN 
TOMBS   OF   THE    EIGHTEENTH   DYNASTY.  THAT 
ON  THE  RIGHT  HAS  A  MOVABLE  LID    .  .192 
XX.  THE  COFFIN  OF  AKHNATON  LYING  IN  THE  TOMB  OF 

QUEEN  TIY      .....  207 
XXI    HEAD  OF  A  GRANITE  STATUE  OF  THE  GOD  KHONSU, 
PROBABLY   DATING    FROM    ABOUT    THE  PERIOD 
OF  HOREMHEB  .  .  .  .217 

XXII.  THE  MOUTH  OF  THE  TOMB  OF  HOREMHEB  AT  THE 
TIME  OF  ITS  DISCOVERY.  THE  AUTHOR  IS 
SEEN  EMERGING  FROM  THE  TOMB  AFTER  THE 
FIRST  ENTRANCE  HAD  BEEN  EFFECTED.  ON 
THE  HILLSIDE  THE  WORKMEN  ARE  GROUPED  .  229 
XXIII.  A  MODERN  THEBAN  FELLAH-WOMAN  AND  HER  CHILD  240 
XXIV    A  MODERN  GOURNAWI  BEGGAR         .  .  .  250 

XXV    THE  ISLAND    AND    TEMPLES    OF    PHIL^    WHEN  THE 

RESERVOIR  IS  EMPTY  ....  269 

XX VI.  A    RELIEF    REPRESENTING    QUEEN    TIY,    FROM  THE 

TOMB  OF  USERHAT  AT  THEBES.  THIS  RELIEF 
WAS  STOLEN  FROM  THE  TOMB,  AND  FOUND  ITS 
WAY  TO  THE  BRUSSELS  MUSEUM,  WHERE  IT  IS 
SHOWN  IN  THE  DAMAGED  CONDITION  SEEN  IN 
PL.  XXVII.       .....  282 

XXVII.  A    RELIEF    REPRESENTING    QUEEN    TIY,    FROM  THE 

TOMB  OF  USERHAT,  THEBES.     (SEE   PL.   XXVI.)  293 


/ 


PART  I. 


THE  VALUE  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

"  History  no  longer  shall  be  a  dull  book.  It  shall  walk  incarnate  in  every 
just  and  wise  man.  You  shall  not  tell  me  by  languages  and  titles  a  cata- 
logue of  the  volumes  you  have  read.  You  shall  make  me  feel  what  periods 
you  have  lived.  A  man  shall  be  the  Temple  of  Fame.  |  He  shall  walk,  as 
the  poets  have  described  that  goddess,  in  a  robe  painted  all., .over  with 
wonderful  events  and  experiences.  ...  He  shall  be  the  priest  of  Pan,  and 
bring  with  him  into  humble  cottages  the  blessing  of  the  morning  stars,  and 
all  the  recorded  benefits  of  heaven  and  earth. "  Emerson. 


CHAPTEE  I. 


THE  VALUE  OF  ARCHAEOLOGY. 

The  archaeologist  whose  business  it  is  to  bring  to 
light  by  pick  and  spade  the  relics  of  bygone  ages, 
is  often  accused  of  devoting  his  energies  to  work 
which  is  of  no  material  profit  to  mankind  at  the 
present  day.  Archaeology  is  an  unapplied  science, 
and,  apart  from  its  connection  with  what  is  called 
culture,  the  critic  is  inclined  to  judge  it  as  a 
pleasant  and  worthless  amusement.  There  is 
nothing,  the  critic  tells  us,  of  pertinent  value 
to  be  learned  from  the  Past  which  will  be  of  use 
to  the  ordinary  person  of  the  present  time ;  and, 
though  the  archaeologist  can  offer  acceptable  infor- 
mation to  the  painter,  to  the  theologian,  to  the 
philologist,  and  indeed  to  most  of  the  followers 
of  the  arts  and  sciences,  he  has  nothing  to  give  to 
the  ordinary  layman. 

In  some  directions  the  imputation  is  unanswer- 
able ;  and  when  the  interests  of  modern  times 
clash  with  those  of  the  past,  as,  for  example,  in 
Egypt  where  a  beneficial  reservoir  has  destroyed 
the  remains  of  early  days,  there  can  be  no  question 
that  the  recording  of  the  threatened  information 


4 


The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


and  the  minimising  of  the  destruction,  is  all  that 
the  value  of  the  archaeologist's  work  entitles  him 
to  ask  for.  The  critic,  however,  usually  overlooks 
some  of  the  chief  reasons  that  archaeology  can  give 
for  even  this  much  consideration,  reasons  which 
constitute  its  modern  usefulness;  and  I  therefore 
propose  to  point  out  to  him  three  or  four  of  the 
many  claims  which  it  may  make  upon  the  atten- 
tion of  the  layman. 

In  the  first  place  it  is  necessary  to  define  the 
meaning  of  the  term  "  Archaeology."  Archaeology 
is  the  study  of  the  facts  of  ancient  history  and 
ancient  lore.  The  word  is  applied  to  the  study 
of  all  ancient  documents  and  objects  which  may  be 
classed  as  antiquities ;  and  the  archaeologist  is 
understood  to  be  the  man  who  deals  with  a  period 
for  which  the  evidence  has  to  be  excavated  or 
otherwise  discovered.  The  age  at  which  an  object 
becomes  an  antiquity,  however,  is  quite  undefined, 
though  practically  it  may  be  reckoned  at  a  hundred 
years  ;  and  ancient  history  is,  after  all,  the  tale  of 
any  period  which  is  not  modern.  Thus  an  archae- 
ologist does  not  necessarily  deal  solely  with  the 
remote  ages. 

Every  chronicler  of  the  events  of  the  less  recent 
times  who  goes  to  the  original  documents  for  his 
facts,  as  true  historians  must  do  during  at  least  a 
part  of  their  studies,  is  an  archaeologist ;  and,  con- 
versely, every  archaeologist  who  in  the  course  of 
his  work  states  a  series  of  historical  facts,  becomes 
an  historian.    Archaeology  and  history  are  insepar- 


The  Value  of  Archaeology.  5 


able ;  and  nothing  is  more  detrimental  to  a  noble 
science  than  the  attitude  of  certain  so  -  called 
archaeologists  who  devote  their  entire  time  to  the 
study  of  a  sequence  of  objects  without  proper 
consideration  for  the  history  which  those  objects 
reveal.  Antiquities  are  the  relics  of  human  mental 
energy ;  and  they  can  no  more  be  classified  without 
reference  to  the  minds  which  produced  them  than 
geological  specimens  can  be  discussed  without- 
regard  to  the  earth.  There  is  only  one  thing- 
worse  than  the  attitude  of  the  archaeologist  who 
does  not  study  the  story  of  the  periods  with  which 
he  is  dealing,  or  construct,  if  only  in  his  thoughts, 
living  history  out  of  the  objects  discovered  by 
him  ;  and  that  is  the  attitude  of  the  historian  who 
has  not  familiarised  himself  with  the  actual  relics 
left  by  the  people  of  whom  he  writes,  or  has  not, 
when  possible,  visited  their  lands.  There  are 
many  "  archaeologists  "  who  do  not  care  a  snap  of 
the  fingers  for  history,  surprising  as  this  may 
appear ;  and  there  are  many  historians  who  take 
no  interest  in  manners  and  customs.  The  influence 
of  either  is  pernicious. 

It  is  to  be  understood,  therefore,  that  in  using 
the  word  Archaeology  I  include  History  :  I  refer  to 
history  supplemented  and  aggrandised  by  the 
study  of  the  arts,  crafts,  manners,  and  customs 
of  the  period  under  consideration. 

As  a  first  argument  the  value  of  archaeology  in 
providing  a  precedent  for  important  occurrences 
may  be  considered.    Archaeology  is  the  structure 


6 


The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


of  ancient  history,  and  it  is  the  voice  of  history 
which  tells  us  that  a  Cretan  is  always  a  Cretan, 
and  a  Jew  always  a  Jew.  History,  then,  may 
well  take  her  place  as  a  definite  asset  of  state- 
craft, and  the  law  of  Precedent  may  be  regarded 
as  a  fundamental  factor  in  international  politics. 
What  has  happened  before  may  happen  again ; 
and  it  is  the  hand  of  the  archaeologist  that  directs 
our  attention  to  the  affairs  and  circumstances  of 
olden  times,  and  warns  us  of  the  possibilities  of 
their  recurrence.  It  may  be  said  that  the  states- 
man who  has  ranged  in  the  front  of  his  mind  the 
proven  characteristics  of  the  people  with  whom 
he  is  dealing  has  a  perquisite  of  the  utmost 
importance. 

Any  archaeologist  who,  previous  to  the  rise  of 
Japan  during  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  had  made  a  close  study  of  the  history 
of  that  country  and  the  character  of  its  people, 
might  well  have  predicted  unerringly  its  future 
advance  to  the  position  of  a  first  -  class  power. 
The  amazing  faculty  of  imitation  displayed  by 
the  Japanese  in  old  times  was  patent  to  him. 
He  had  seen  them  borrow  part  of  their  arts, 
their  sciences,  their  crafts,  their  literature,  their 
religion,  and  many  of  their  customs  from  the 
Chinese ;  and  he  might  have  been  aware  that 
they  would  likewise  borrow  from  the  West,  as 
soon  as  they  had  intercourse  with  it,  those  essen- 
tials of  civilisation  which  would  raise  them  to  their 
present  position  in  the  world.     To  him  their  fear- 


The  Value  of  Archaeology.  7 


lessness,  their  tenacity,  and  their  patriotism,  were 
known ;  and  he  was  so  well  aware  of  their  powers 
of  organisation,  that  he  might  have  foreseen  the 
rapid  development  which  was  to  take  place. 

What  historian  who  has  read  the  ancient  books 
of  the  Irish — the  Book  of  the  Dun  Cow,  the  Book 
of  Ballymote,  the  Book  of  Lismore,  and  the  like — 
can  show  either  surprise  or  dismay  at  the  events 
which  have  occurred  in  Ireland  in  modern  times  ? 
Of  the  hundreds  of  kings  of  Ireland  whose  histories 
are  epitomised  in  such  works  as  that  of  the  old 
archaeologist  Keating,  it  would  be  possible  to 
count  upon  the  fingers  those  who  have  died  in 
peace ;  and  the  archaeologist,  thus,  knows  better 
than  to  expect  the  descendants  of  these  kings  to 
live  in  harmony  one  with  the  other.  National 
characteristics  do  not  change  unless,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  Greeks,  the  stock  also  changes. 

In  the  Jews  we  have  another  example  of  the 
persistence  of  those  national  characteristics  which 
history  has  made  known  to  us.  The  Jews  first 
appear  in  the  dimness  of  the  remote  past  as  a 
group  of  nomad  tribes,  wandering  over  southern 
Palestine,  Egypt,  and  the  intervening  deserts ; 
and  at  the  present  day  we  see  them  still  home- 
less, scattered  over  the  face  of  the  globe,  the 
"  tribe  of  the  wandering  foot  and  weary  breast." 

In  no  country  has  the  archaeologist  been  more 
active  than  in  Egypt  during  the  last  half  century, 
and  the  contributions  which  his  spade  and  pick 
have  offered  to  history  are  of  first-rate  importance 


8 


The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


to  that  study  as  a  whole.  The  eye  may  now  travel 
down  the  history  of  the  Nile  Valley  from  pre- 
historic days  to  the  present  time  almost  without 
interruption ;  and  now  that  the  anthropologist  has 
shown  .that  the  modern  Egyptians,  Mussulman  and 
Copt,  peasant  and  townsman,  belong  to  one  and 
the  same  race  of  ancient  Egyptians,  one  may 
surely  judge  to-day's  inhabitants  of  the  country  in 
the  light  of  yesterday's  records.  In  his  report  for 
the  year  1906,  Lord  Cromer,  questioning  whether 
the  modern  inhabitants  of  the  country  were  cap- 
able of  governing  their  own  land,  tells  us  that  we 
must  go  back  to  the  precedent  of  Pharaonic  days 
to  discover  if  the  Egyptians  ever  ruled  themselves 
successfully. 

In  this  pregnant  remark  Lord  Cromer  was  using 
information  which  the  archaeologist  and  historian 
had  made  accessible  to  him.  Looking  back  over 
the  history  of  the  country,  he  was  enabled,  by  the 
study  of  this  information,  to  range  before  him  the 
succession  of  foreign  occupations  of  the  Nile  Valley 
and  to  assess  their  significance.  It  may  be  worth 
while  to  repeat  the  process,  in  order  to  give  an 
example  of  the  bearing  of  history  upon  modern 
polemics,  though  I  propose  to  discuss  this  matter 
more  fully  in  another  chapter. 

Previous  to  the  British  occupation  the  country 
was  ruled,  as  it  is  now,  by  a  noble  dynasty  of 
Albanian  princes,  whose  founder  was  set  upon 
the  throne  by  the  aid  of  Turkish  and  Albanian 
troops.     From  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 


The  Value  of  Archaeology. 


9 


century  until  that  time  Egypt  had  been  ruled 
by  the  Ottoman  Government,  the  Turk  having 
replaced  the  Circassian  and  other  foreign  "Main- 
lukes n  who  had  held  the  country  by  the  aid  of 
foreign  troops  since  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth 
century.  For  a  hundred  years  previous  to  the 
Mamluke  rule  Egypt  had  been  in  the  hands  of 
the  Syrian  and  Arabian  dynasty  founded  by 
Saladdin.  The  Fatimides,  a  North  African  dynasty, 
governed  the  country  before  the  advent  of  Salad- 
din,  this  family  having  entered  Egypt  under  their 
general,  Jauhar,  who  was  of  Greek  origin.  In 
the  ninth  century  Ahmed  ibn  Tulun,  a  Turk, 
governed  the  land  with  the  aid  of  a  foreign  gar- 
rison, his  rule  being  succeeded  by  the  Ikhshidi 
dynasty  of  foreigners.  Ahmed  had  captured 
Egypt  from  the  Byzantines  who  had  held  it 
since  the  days  of  the  Roman  occupation.  Pre- 
vious to  the  Romans  the  Ptolemies,  a  Greek 
family,  had  governed  the  Nile  Valley  with  the 
help  of  foreign  troops.  The  Ptolemies  had  fol- 
lowed close  upon  the  Greek  occupation,  the 
Greeks  having  replaced  the  Persians  as  rulers 
of  Egypt.  The  Persian  occupation  had  been 
preceded  by  an  Egyptian  dynasty  which  had 
been  kept  on  the  throne  by  Greek  and  other 
foreign  garrisons.  Previous  to  this  there  had 
been  a  Persian  occupation,  which  had  followed 
a  short  period  of  native  rule  under  foreign 
influence.  We  then  come  back  to  the  Assyrian 
conquest  which  had  followed  the  Ethiopian  rule. 


io        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


Libyan  kings  had  held  the  country  before  the 
Ethiopian  conquest.  The  XXIst  and  XXth 
Dynasties  preceded  the  Libyans,  and  here,  in  a 
disgraceful  period  of  corrupt  government,  a  series 
of  so-called  native  kings  are  met  with.  Foreigners, 
however,  swarmed  in  the  country  at  the  time, 
foreign  troops  were  constantly  used,  and  the 
Pharaohs  themselves  were  of  semi-foreign  origin. 
One  now  comes  back  to  the  early  XlXth  and 
XVIIIth  Dynasties  which,  although  largely  tinged 
with  foreign  blood,  may  be  said  to  have  been 
Egyptian  families.  Before  the  rise  of  the  XVIIIth 
Dynasty  the  country  was  in  foreign  hands  for 
the  long  period  which  had  followed  the  fall  of 
the  Xllth  Dynasty,  the  classical  period  of 
Egyptian  history  (about  the  twentieth  century 
B.C.),  when  there  were  no  rivals  to  be  feared. 
Thus  the  Egyptians  may  be  said  to  have  been 
subject  to  foreign  occupation  for  nearly  four 
thousand  years,  with  the  exception  of  the  strong 
native  rule  of  the  XVIIIth  Dynasty,  the  semi- 
native  rule  of  the  three  succeeding  dynasties, 
and  a  few  brief  periods  of  chaotic  government 
in  later  times ;  and  this  is  the  information  which 
the  archseologist  has  to  give  to  the  statesman 
and  politician.  It  is  a  story  of  continual  con- 
quest, of  foreign  occupations  following  one  upon 
another,  of  revolts  and  massacres,  of  rapid  retri- 
butions and  punishments.  It  is  the  story  of  a 
nation  which,  however  ably  it  may  govern  itself 


[Photo  by  E.  Brugsch  Pasha. 
The  mummy  of  Rameses  II.  of  Dynasty  XIX. — Cairo  Museum. 


Pl.  i. 


The  Value  of  Archaeology.  n 


in  the  future,  has  only  once  in  four  thousand 
years  successfully  done  so  in  the  past. 

Such  information  is  of  far-reaching  value  to 
the  politician,  and  to  those  interested,  as  every 
Englishman  should  be,  in  Imperial  politics.  A 
nation  cannot  alter  by  one  jot  or  tittle  its  funda- 
mental characteristics ;  and  only  those  who  have 
studied  those  characteristics  in  the  pages  of  his- 
tory are  competent  to  foresee  the  future.  A 
certain  Englishman  once  asked  the  Khedive 
Ismail  whether  there  was  any  news  that  day 
about  Egyptian  affairs.  "  That  is  so  like  all 
you  English,"  replied  his  Highness.  "  You  are 
always  expecting  something  new  to  happen  in 
Egypt  day  by  day.  To-day  is  here  the  same  as 
yesterday,  and  to  -  morrow  will  be  the  same  as 
to-day ;  and  so  it  has  been,  and  so  it  will  be, 
for  thousands  of  years." 1  Neither  Egypt  nor 
any  other  nation  will  ever  change ;  and  to  this 
it  is  the  archaeologist  who  will  bear  witness  with 
his  stern  law  of  Precedent. 

I  will  reserve  the  enlarging  of  this  subject  for 
the  next  chapter :  for  the  present  we  may  con- 
sider, as  a  second  argument,  the  efficacy  of  the 
past  as  a  tonic  to  the  present,  and  its  ability 
to  restore  the  vitality  of  any  age  that  is 
weakened. 

In  ancient  Egypt  at   the   beginning   of  the 
XXVIth  Dynasty  (b.c.  663)  the  country  was  at 
1  E.  Dicey.    *  The  Story  of  the  Khedivate,'  p.  528. 


12        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


a  very  low  ebb.  Devastated  by  conquests,  its 
people  humiliated,  its  government  impoverished, 
a  general  collapse  of  the  nation  was  imminent. 
At  this  critical  period  the  Egyptians  turned  their 
minds  to  the  glorious  days  of  old.  They  re- 
modelled their  arts  and  crafts  upon  those  of  the 
classical  periods,  introduced  again  the  obsolete 
offices  and  titles  of  those  early  times,  and  organ- 
ised the  government  upon  the  old  lines.  This 
movement  saved  the  country,  and  averted  its 
collapse  for  a  few  more  centuries.  It  renewed 
the  pride  of  workmanship  in  a  decadent  people ; 
and  on  all  sides  we  see  a  revival  which  was  the 
direct  result  of  an  archaeological  experiment. 

The  importance  of  archaeology  as  a  reviver  of 
artistic  and  industrial  culture  will  be  realised  at 
once  if  the  essential  part  it  played  in  the  great 
Italian  Renaissance  is  called  to  mind.  Previous 
to  the  age  of  Cimabue  and  Giotto  in  Florence, 
Italian  refinement  had  passed  steadily  down  the 
path  of  deterioration.  Graeco-Roman  art,  which 
was  still  at  a  high  level  in  the  early  centuries 
of  the  Christian  era,  entirely  lost  its  originality 
during  Byzantine  times,  and  the  dark  ages  settled 
down  upon  Italy  in  almost  every  walk  of  life. 
The  Venetians,  for  example,  were  satisfied  with 
comparatively  the  poorest  works  of  art  imported 
from  Constantinople  or  Mount  Athos ;  and  in 
Florence  so  great  was  the  poverty  of  genius 
that  when  Cimabue  in  the  thirteenth  century 
painted  that  famous  Madonna  which  to  our  eyes 


The  Value  of  Archaeology.  13 


appears  to  be  of  the  crudest  workmanship,  the 
little  advance  made  by  it  in  the  direction  of 
naturalness  was  received  by  the  city  with 
acclamations,  the  very  street  down  which  it  was 
carried  being  called  the  "  Happy  Street "  in 
honour  of  the  event.  Giotto  carried  on  his 
master's  teachings,  and  a  few  years  later  the 
Florentines  had  advanced  to  the  standard  of 
Fra  Angelico,  who  was  immediately  followed  by 
the  two  Lippis  and  Botticelli.  Leonardo  da  Vinci, 
artist,  architect,  and  engineer,  was  almost  con- 
temporaneous with  Botticelli,  being  born  not  much 
more  than  a  hundred  years  after  the  death  of 
Giotto.  With  him  art  reached  a  level  which  it 
has  never  surpassed,  old  traditions  and  old  canons 
were  revived,  and  in  every  direction  culture  pro- 
ceeded again  to  those  heights  from  which  it  had 
fallen. 

The  reader  will  not  need  to  be  reminded  that 
this  great  renaissance  was  the  direct  result  of 
the  study  of  the  remains  of  the  ancient  arts  of 
Greece  and  Rome.  Botticelli  and  his  contem- 
poraries were,  in  a  sense,  archaeologists,  for  their 
work  was  inspired  by  the  relics  of  ancient  days. 

Now,  though  at  first  sight  it  seems  incredible 
that  such  an  age  of  barbarism  as  that  of  the 
later  Byzantine  period  should  return,  it  is  indeed 
quite  possible  that  a  relatively  uncultured  age 
should  come  upon  us  in  the  future ;  and  there 
is  every  likelihood  of  certain  communities  passing- 
over  to  the  ranks  of  the  absolute  Philistines. 


14        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


Socialism  run  mad  would  have  no  more  time  to 
give  to  the  intellect  than  it  had  during  the  French 
Revolution.  Any  form  of  violent  social  upheaval 
means  catalepsy  of  the  arts  and  crafts,  and  a 
trampling  under  foot  of  old  traditions.  The 
invasions  and  revolts  which  are  met  with  at 
the  close  of  ancient  Egyptian  history  brought 
the  culture  of  that  country  to  the  lowest  ebb 
of  vitality.  The  fall  of  Greece  put  an  absolute 
stop  to  the  artistic  life  of  that  nation.  The 
invasions  of  Italy  by  the  inhabitants  of  less 
refined  countries  caused  a  set-back  in  civilisation 
for  which  almost  the  whole  of  Europe  suffered. 
Certain  of  the  French  arts  and  crafts  have  never 
recovered  from  the  effects  of  the  Revolution. 

A  national  convulsion  of  one  kind  or  another 
is  to  be  expected  by  every  country ;  and  history 
tells  us  that  such  a  convulsion  is  generally  fol- 
lowed by  an  age  of  industrial  and  artistic  coma, 
which  is  brought  to  an  end  not  so  much  by  the 
introduction  of  foreign  ideas  as  by  a  renascence 
of  the  early  traditions  of  the  nation.  It  thus 
behoves  every  man  to  interest  himself  in  the 
continuity  of  these  traditions,  and  to  see  that 
they  are  so  impressed  upon  the  mind  that  they 
shall  survive  all  upheavals,  or  with  ease  be 
re-established. 

There  is  no  better  tonic  for  a  people  who  have 
weakened,  and  whose  arts,  crafts,  and  industries 
have  deteriorated  than  a  return  to  the  conditions 
which  obtained  at  a  past  age  of  national  pros- 


The  Value  of  Archaeology.  15 


perity ;  and  there  are  few  more  repaying  tasks 
in  the  long-run  than  that  of  reviving  an  interest 
in  the  best  periods  of  artistic  or  industrial  activity. 
This  can  only  be  effected  by  the  study  of  the  past, 
that  is  to  say  by  archaeology. 

It  is  to  be  remembered,  of  course,  that  the 
sentimental  interest  in  antique  objects  which,  in 
recent  years,  has  given  a  huge  value  to  all  ancient 
things,  regardless  of  their  intrinsic  worth,  is  a 
dangerous  attitude,  unless  it  is  backed  by  the  most 
expert  knowledge ;  for  instead  of  directing  the 
attention  only  to  the  best  work  of  the  best 
periods,  it  results  in  the  diminishing  of  the  output 
of  modern  original  work  and  the  setting  of  little 
of  worth  in  its  place.  A  person  of  a  certain 
fashionable  set  will  now  boast  that  there  is  no 
object  in  his  room  less  than  two  hundred  years 
old :  his  only  boast,  however,  should  be  that  the 
room  contains  nothing  which  is  not  of  intrinsic 
beauty,  interest,  or  good  workmanship.  The  old 
chairs  from  the  kitchen  are  dragged  into  the 
drawing-room — because  they  are  old ;  miniatures 
unmeritoriously  painted  by  unknown  artists  for 
obscure  clients  are  nailed  in  conspicuous  places — 
because  they  are  old  ;  hideous  plates  and  dishes, 
originally  made  by  ignorant  workmen  for  im- 
poverished peasants,  are  enclosed  in  glass  cases — 
because  they  are  old  ;  iron-bound  chests,  which  had 
been  cheaply  made  to  suit  the  purses  of  farmers, 
are  rescued  from  the  cottages  of  their  descendants 
and  sold  for  fabulous  sums — because  they  are  old. 


1 6        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


A  person  who  fills  a  drawing-room  with  chairs, 
tables,  and  ornaments,  dating  from  the  reign  of 
Queen  Anne,  cannot  say  that  he  does  so  because 
he  wishes  it  to  look  like  a  room  of  that  date  ;  for  if 
this  were  his  desire,  he  would  have  to  furnish  it 
with  objects  which  appeared  to  be  newly  made, 
since  in  the  days  of  Queen  Anne  the  first  quality 
noticeable  in  them  would  have  been  their  newness. 
In  fact,  to  produce  the  desired  effect  everything  in 
the  room,  with  very  few  exceptions,  would  have  to 
be  a  replica.  To  sit  in  this  room  full  of  antiques 
in  a  frock-coat  would  be  as  bad  a  breach  of  good 
taste  as  the  placing  of  a  Victorian  chandelier  in  an 
Elizabethan  banquetiug-hall.  To  furnish  the  room 
with  genuine  antiquities  because  they  are  old  and 
therefore  interesting  would  be  to  carry  the  museum 
spirit  into  daily  life  with  its  attending  responsi- 
bilities, and  would  involve  all  manner  of  incon- 
gruities and  inconsistencies ;  while  to  furnish  in 
this  manner  because  antiques  were  valuable  would 
be  merely  vulgar.  There  are,  thus,  only  three 
justifications  that  I  can  see  for  the  action  of  the 
man  who  surrounds  himself  with  antiquities  :  he 
must  do  so  because  they  are  examples  of  good 
workmanship,  because  they  are  beautiful,  or  be- 
cause they  are  endeared  to  him  by  family  usage. 
These,  of  course,  are  full  and  complete  justifica- 
tions ;  and  the  value  of  his  attitude  should  be  felt 
in  the  impetus  which  it  gives  to  conscientious 
modern  work.  There  are  periods  in  history  at 
which  certain  arts,  crafts,  or  industries  reached 


[Photo  by  E.  Brugsch  Pasha. 

Wood  and  enamel  jewel-case  discovered  in  the  tomb  of  Yuaa  and  Tuau. 
An  example  of  the  furniture  of  one  of  the  best  periods  of  ancient 
Egyptian  art. — Cairo  Museum. 


Pl.  ii. 


The  Value  of  Archaeology.  17 


an  extremely  high  level  of  excellence  ;  and  nothing 
can  be  more  valuable  to  modern  workmen  than 
familiarity  with  these  periods.  Well-made  replicas 
have  a  value  that  is  overlooked  only  by  the  in- 
artistic. Nor  must  it  be  forgotten  that  modern 
objects  of  modern  design  will  one  day  become 
antiquities ;  and  it  should  be  our  desire  to  assist 
in  the  making  of  the  period  of  our  lifetime  an  age 
to  which  future  generations  will  look  back  for 
guidance  and  teaching.  Every  man  can,  in  this 
manner,  be  of  use  to  a  nation,  if  only  by  learning 
to  reject  poor  work  wherever  he  comes  upon  it — 
work  which  he  feels  would  not  stand  against  the 
criticism  of  Time ;  and  thus  it  may  be  said  that 
archaeology,  which  directs  him  to  the  best  works  of 
the  ancients,  and  sets  him  a  standard  and  criterion, 
should  be  an  essential  part  of  his  education. 

The  third  argument  which  I  wish  to  employ 
here  to  demonstrate  the  value  of  the  study  of 
archaeology  and  history  to  the  layman  is  based 
upon  the  assumption  that  patriotism  is  a  desirable 
ingredient  in  a  man's  character.  This  is  a  premise 
which  assuredly  will  be  admitted.  True  patriotism 
is  essential  to  the  maintenance  of  a  nation.  It  has 
taken  the  place,  among  certain  people,  of  loyalty  to 
the  sovereign ;  for  the  armies  which  used  to  go  to 
war  out  of  a  blind  loyalty  to  their  king,  now  do  so 
from  a  sense  of  patriotism  which  is  shared  by  the 
monarch  (if  they  happen  to  have  the  good  fortune 
to  possess  one). 

Patriotism  is  often  believed  to  consist  of  a  love 

B 


1 8        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


of  one's  country,  in  an  affection  for  the  familiar 
villages  or  cities,  fields  or  streets,  of  one's  own 
dwelling-place.  This  is  a  grievous  error.  Pat- 
riotism should  be  an  unqualified  desire  for  the 
welfare  of  the  race  as  a  whole.  It  is  not  really 
patriotic  for  the  Englishman  to  say,  "  I  love  Eng- 
land "  :  it  is  only  natural.  It  is  not  patriotic  for 
him  to  say,  "  I  don't  think  much  of  foreigners"  :  it 
is  only  a  form  of  narrowness  of  mind  which,  in 
the  case  of  England  and  certain  other  countries, 
happens  sometimes  to  be  rather  a  useful  attitude, 
but  in  the  case  of  several  nations,  of  which  a  good 
example  is  Egypt,  would  be  detrimental  to  their 
own  interests.  It  was  not  unqualified  patriotism 
that  induced  the  Greeks  to  throw  off  the  Ottoman 
yoke  :  it  was  largely  dislike  of  the  Turks.  It  is 
not  patriotism,  that  is  to  say  undiluted  concern  for 
the  nation  as  a  whole,  which  leads  some  of  the 
modern  Egyptians  to  prefer  an  entirely  native 
government  to  the  Anglo-Egyptian  administration 
now  obtaining  in  that  country  :  it  is  restlessness  ; 
and  I  am  fortunately  able  to  define  it  thus  without 
the  necessity  of  entering  the  arena  of  polemics  by 
offering  an  opinion  as  to  whether  that  restlessness 
is  justified  or  not  justified. 

If  patriotism  were  but  the  love  of  one's  tribe  and 
one's  dwelling-place,  then  such  undeveloped  or 
fallen  races  as,  for  example,  the  American  Indians, 
could  lay  their  downfall  at  the  door  of  that  senti- 
ment ;  since  the  exclusive  love  of  the  tribe  pre- 
vented the  small  bodies  from  amalgamating  into 


The  Value  of  Archaeology.  19 


one  great  nation  for  the  opposing  of  the  invader. 
If  patriotism  were  but  the  desire  for  government 
without  interference,  then  the  breaking  up  of  the 
world's  empires  would  be  urged,  and  such  federa- 
tions as  the  United  States  of  America  would  be 
intolerable. 

Patriotism  is,  and  must  be,  the  desire  for  the 
progress  and  welfare  of  the  whole  nation,  without 
any  regard  whatsoever  to  the  conditions  under 
which  that  progress  takes  place,  and  without  any 
prejudice  in  favour  either  of  self-government  or  of 
outside  control.  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying 
that  the  patriotic  Pole  is  he  who  is  in  favour  of 
Russian  or  German  control  of  his  country's  affairs  ; 
for  history  has  told  him  quite  plainly  that  he 
cannot  manage  them  himself.  The  Nationalist  in 
any  country  runs  the  risk  of  being  the  poorest 
patriot  in  the  land,  for  his  continuous  cry  is  for 
self-government,  without  any  regard  to  the  ques- 
tion as  to  whether  such  o-overnment  will  be  bene- 
ficial  to  his  nation  in  the  long-run. 

The  value  of  history  to  patriotism,  then,  is  to  be 
assessed  under  two  headings.  In  the  first  place, 
history  defines  the  attitude  which  the  patriot  should 
assume.  It  tells  him,  in  the  clear  light  of  experi- 
ence, what  is,  and  what  is  not,  good  for  his  nation, 
and  indicates  to  him  how  much  he  may  claim  for 
his  country.  And  in  the  second  place,  it  gives  to 
the  patriots  of  those  nations  which  have  shown 
capacity  and  ability  in  the  past  a  confidence  in  the 
present ;  it  permits  in  them  the  indulgence  of  that 


20        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


enthusiasm  which  will  carry  them,  sure-footed, 
along  the  path  of  glory. 

Archseology,  as  the  discovery  and  classification 
of  the  facts  of  history,  is  the  means  by  which  we 
may  obtain  a  true  knowledge  of  what  has  happened 
in  the  past.  It  is  the  instrument  with  which  we 
may  dissect  legend,  and  extract  from  myth  its 
ingredients  of  fact.  Cold  history  tells  the  Greek 
patriot,  eager  to  enter  the  fray,  that  he  must  set 
little  store  by  the  precedent  of  the  deeds  of  the 
Trojan  war.  It  tells  the  English  patriot  that  the 
"  one  jolly  Englishman  "  of  the  old  rhyme  is  not 
the  easy  vanquisher  of  the  "  two  froggy  Frenchmen 
and  one  Portugee"  which  tradition  would  have 
him  believe.  He  is  thus  enabled  to  steer  a  middle 
course  between  arrant  conceit  and  childish  fright. 
History  tells  him  the  actual  facts  :  history  is  to 
the  patriot  what  "  form  "  is  to  the  racing  man. 

In  the  case  of  the  English  (Heaven  be  praised  !) 
history  opens  up  a  boundless  vista  for  the  patriotic. 
The  Englishman  seldom  realises  how  much  he  has 
to  be  proud  of  in  his  history,  or  how  loudly  the 
past  cries  upon  him  to  be  of  good  cheer.  One 
hears  much  nowadays  of  England's  peril,  and  it 
is  good  that  the  red  signals  of  danger  should  some- 
times be  displayed.  But  let  every  Englishman 
remember  that  history  can  tell  him  of  greater 
perils  faced  successfully ;  of  mighty  armies  com- 
manded by  the  greatest  generals  the  world  has 
ever  known,  held  in  check  year  after  year,  and 
finally  crushed  by  England;  of  vast  fleets  scattered 


The  Value  of  Archaeology.  21 


or  destroyed  by  English  sailors ;  of  almost  im- 
pregnable cities  captured  by  British  troops. 
"  There  is  something  very  characteristic,"  writes 
Professor  Seeley,1  "  in  the  indifference  which  we 
show  towards  the  mighty  phenomenon  of  the 
diffusion  of  our  race  and  the  expansion  of  our 
state.  We  seem,  as  it  were,  to  have  conquered 
and  peopled  half  the  world  in  a  fit  of  absence 
of  mind." 

The  history  of  England,  and  later  of  the  British 
Empire,  constitutes  a  tale  so  amazing  that  he  who 
has  the  welfare  of  the  nation  as  a  whole  at  heart — 
that  is  to  say,  the  true  patriot — is  justified  in  en- 
tertaining the  most  optimistic  thoughts  for  the 
future.  He  should  not  be  indifferent  to  the  past : 
he  should  bear  it  in  mind  all  the  time.  Patriotism 
may  not  often  be  otherwise  than  misguided  if  no 
study  of  history  has  been  made.  The  patriot  of 
one  nation  will  wish  to  procure  for  his  country  a 
freedom  which  history  would  show  him  to  have 
been  its  very  curse  ;  and  the  patriot  of  another 
nation  will  encourage  a  nervousness  and  restraint 
in  his  people  which  history  would  tell  him  was 
unnecessary.  The  English  patriot  has  a  history 
to  read  which,  at  the  present  time,  it  is  especially 
needful  for  him  to  consider  ;  and,  since  Egyptology 
is  my  particular  province,  I  cannot  better  close 
this  argument  than  by  reminding  the  modern 
Egyptians  that  their  own  history  of  four  thousand 
years  and  its  teaching  must  be  considered  by  them 

1  'The  Expansion  of  England,'  p.  10. 


22        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


when  they  speak  of  patriotism.  A  nation  so 
talented  as  the  descendants  of  the  Pharaohs,  so 
industrious,  so  smart  and  clever,  should  give  a 
far  larger  part  of  its  attention  to  the  arts,  crafts, 
and  industries,  of  which  Egyptian  archaeology  has 
to  tell  so  splendid  a  story. 

As  a  final  argument  for  the  value  of  the  study 
of  history  and  archaeology  an  aspect  of  the  question 
may  be  placed  before  the  reader  which  will  perhaps 
be  regarded  as  fanciful,  but  which,  in  all  sincerity, 
I  believe  to  be  sober  sense. 

In  this  life  of  ours  which,  under  modern  con- 
ditions, is  lived  at  so  great  a  speed,  there  is  a 
growing  need  for  a  periodical  pause  wherein  the 
mind  may  adjust  the  relationship  of  the  things 
that  have  been  to  those  that  are.  So  rapidly  are 
our  impressions  received  and  assimilated,  so  in- 
dividually are  they  shaped  or  classified,  that,  in 
whatever  direction  our  brains  lead  us,  we  are 
speedily  carried  beyond  that  province  of  thought 
which  is  common  to  us  all.  A  man  who  lives 
alone  finds  himself,  in  a  few  months,  out  of  touch 
with  the  thought  of  his  contemporaries ;  and, 
similarly,  a  man  who  lives  in  what  is  called  an 
up-to-date  manner  soon  finds  himself  grown 
unsympathetic  to  the  sober  movement  of  the 
world's  slow  round-about. 

Now,  the  man  who  lives  alone  presently  de- 
velopes  some  of  the  recognised  eccentricities  of 
the  recluse,  which,  on  his  return  to  society,  cause 
him  to  be  regarded  as  a  maniac ;  and  the  man 


Pl.  nr. 


The  Value  of  Archaeology.  23 


who  lives  entirely  in  the  present  cannot  argue 
hat  the  characteristics  which  he  has  developed 
are  less  maniacal  because  they  are  shared  by  his 
associates.  Rapidly  he,  too,  has  become  eccentric ; 
and  just  as  the  solitary  man  must  needs  come  into 
the  company  of  his  fellows  if  he  would  retain  a 
healthy  mind,  so  the  man  who  lives  in  the  present 
must  allow  himself  occasional  intercourse  with  the 
past  if  he  would  keep  his  balance. 

Heraclitus,  in  a  quotation  preserved  by  Sextus 
Empiricus,1  writes  :  "  It  behoves  us  to  follow  the 
common  reason  of  the  world ;  yet,  though  there 
is  a  common  reason  in  the  world,  the  majority 
live  as  though  they  possessed  a  wisdom  peculiar 
each  unto  himself  alone."  Every  one  of  us  who 
considers  his  mentality  an  important  part  of  his 
constitution  should  endeavour  to  give  himself 
ample  opportunities  of  adjusting  his  mind  to  this 

common  reason"  which  is  the  silver  thread  that 
runs  unbroken  throughout  history.  We  should 
remember  the  yesterdays,  that  we  may  know  what 
the  pother  of  to  -  day  is  about ;  and  we  should 
foretell  to-morrow  not  by  to-day  but  by  every 
day  that  has  been. 

Forgetfulness  is  so  common  a  human  failing. 
In  our  rapid  transit  through  life  we  are  so  inclined 
to  forget  the  past  stages  of  the  journey.  All 
things  pass  by  and  are  swallowed  up  in  a  moment 
of  time.  Experiences  crowd  upon  us  ;  the  events 
of  our  life  occur,  are  recorded  by  our  busy  brains 

1  By  water  :  1  Heracliti  Ephesii  Reliquiae,'  p.  38. 


24        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


are  digested,  and  are  forgotten  before  the  sub- 
stance of  which  they  were  made  has  resolved 
into  its  elements.  We  race  through  the  years, 
and  our  progress  is  headlong  through  the  days. 

Everything,  as  it  is  done  with,  is  swept  up 
into  the  basket  of  the  past,  and  the  busy  hand- 
maids, unless  we  check  them,  toss  the  contents, 
good  and  bad,  on  to  the  great  rubbish  heap  of  the 
world's  waste.  Loves,  hates,  gains,  losses,  all 
things  upon  which  we  do  not  lay  fierce  and  strong 
hands,  are  gathered  into  nothingness,  and,  with  a 
few  exceptions,  are  utterly  forgotten. 

And  we,  too,  will  soon  have  passed,  and  our 
little  brains  which  have  forgotten  so  much  will 
be  forgotten.  We  shall  be  throttled  out  of  the 
world  and  pressed  by  the  clumsy  hands  of  Death 
into  the  mould  of  that  same  rubbish-hill  of  oblivion, 
unless  there  be  a  stronger  hand  to  save  us.  We 
shall  be  cast  aside,  and  left  behind  by  the  hurrying 
crowd,  unless  there  be  those  who  will  see  to  it 
that  our  soul,  like  that  of  John  Brown,  goes 
marching  along.  There  is  only  one  human  force 
stronger  than  death,  and  that  force  is  History. 
By  it  the  dead  are  made  to  live  again  :  history 
is  the  salvation  of  the  mortal  man  as  religion  is 
the  salvation  of  his  immortal  life. 

Sometimes,  then,  in  our  race  from  day  to  day  it 
is  necessary  to  stop  the  headlong  progress  of  ex- 
perience, and,  for  an  hour,  to  look  back  upon  the 
past.  Often,  before  we  remember  to  direct  our 
mind  to  it,  that  past  is  already  blurred  and  dim. 


The  Value  of  Archaeology.  25 


The  picture  is  out  of  focus,  and  turning  from  it 
in  sorrow  instantly  the  flight  of  our  time  begins 
again.  This  should  not  be.  "  There  is,"  says 
Emerson,  "  a  relationship  between  the  hours  of 
our  life  and  the  centuries  of  time."  Let  us  give 
history  and  archaeology  its  due  attention  ;  for  thus 
not  only  shall  we  be  rendering  a  service  to  all  the 
dead,  not  only  shall  we  be  giving  a  reason  and  a 
usefulness  to  their  lives,  but  we  shall  also  lend  to 
our  own  thought  a  balance  which  in  no  otherwise 
can  be  obtained,  we  shall  adjust  ourselves  to  the 
true  movement  of  the  world,  and,  above  all,  we 
shall  learn  how  best  to  serve  that  nation  to  which 
it  is  our  inestimable  privilege  to  belong. 


26 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    EGYPTIAN  EMPIRE. 

"  History,"  says  Sir  J.  Seeley,  "  lies  before  science 
as  a  mass  of  materials  out  of  which  a  political 
doctrine  can  be  deduced.  .  .  .  Politics  are  vulgar 
when  they  are  not  liberalised  by  history,  and 
history  fades  into  mere  literature  when  it  loses 
sight  of  its  relation  to  practical  politics.  .  .  . 
Politics  and  history  are  only  different  aspects  of 
the  same  study."  1 

These  words,  spoken  by  a  great  historian,  form 
the  keynote  of  a  book  which  has  run  into  nearly 
twenty  editions ;  and  they  may  therefore  be 
regarded  as  having  some  weight.  Yet  what 
historian  of  old  Egyptian  affairs  concerns  himself 
with  the  present  welfare  and  future  prospects  of 
the  country,  or  how  many  statesmen  in  Egypt  give 
close  attention  to  a  study  of  the  past  ?  To  the 
former  the  Egypt  of  modern  times  offers  no  scope 
for  his  erudition,  and  gives  him  no  opportunity 
of  making  "  discoveries,"  which  is  all  he  cares 
about.    To  the  latter,  Egyptology  appears  to  be 

1  *  The  Expansion  of  England.' 


The  Egyptian  Empire.  27 


but  a  pleasant  amusement,  the  main  value  of 
which  is  the  finding  of  pretty  scarabs  suitable 
for  the  necklaces  of  one's  lady  friends.  Neither 
the  one  nor  the  other  would  for  a  moment  admit 
that  Egyptology  and  Egyptian  politics  "  are  only 
different  aspects  of  the  same  study."  And  yet 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  are. 

It  will  be  argued  that  the  historian  of  ancient 
Egypt  deals  with  a  period  so  extremely  remote 
that  it  can  have  no  bearing  upon  the  conditions 
of  modern  times,  when  the  inhabitants  of  Egypt 
have  altered  their  language,  religion,  and  customs, 
and  the  Mediterranean  has  ceased  to  be  the  active 
centre  of  the  civilised  world.  But  it  is  to  be  re- 
membered that  the  study  of  Egyptology  carries 
one  down  to  the  Muhammedan  invasion  without 
much  straining  of  the  term,  and  merges  then  into 
the  study  of  the  Arabic  period  at  so  many  points 
that  no  real  termination  can  be  given  to  the  science  ; 
while  the  fact  of  the  remoteness  of  its  beginnings 
but  serves  to  give  it  a  greater  value,  since  the 
vista  before  the  eyes  is  wider. 

It  is  my  object  in  this  chapter  to  show  that 
the  ancient  history  of  Egypt  has  a  real  bearing 
on  certain  aspects  of  the  polemics  of  the  country. 
I  need  not  again  touch  upon  the  matters  which 
were  referred  to  on  page  8  in  order  to  demon- 
strate this  fact.  I  will  take  but  one  subject — 
namely,  that  of  Egypt's  foreign  relations  and  her 
wars  in  other  lands.  It  will  be  best,  for  this  pur- 
pose, to  show  first  of  all  that  the  ancient  and 


28        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


modern  Egyptians  are  one  and  the  same  people ; 
and,  secondly,  that  the  political  conditions,  broadly 
speaking,  are  much  the  same  now  as  they  have 
been  throughout  history. 

Professor  Elliot  Smith,  F.P.S.,  has  shown  clearly 
enough,  from  the  study  of  bones  of  all  ages,  that 
the  ancient  and  modern  inhabitants  of  the  Nile 
Valley  are  precisely  the  same  people  anthropo- 
logically ;  and  this  fact  at  once  sets  the  matter 
upon  an  unique  footing :  for,  with  the  possible 
exception  of  China,  there  is  no  nation  in  the 
world  which  can  be  proved  thus  to  have  retained 
its  type  for  so  long  a  period.  This  one  fact  makes 
any  parallel  with  Greece  or  Rome  impossible.  The 
modern  Greeks  have  not  much  in  common,  an- 
thropologically, with  the  ancient  Greeks,  for  the 
blood  has  become  very  mixed ;  the  Italians  are 
not  the  same  as  the  old  Romans ;  the  English 
are  the  result  of  a  comparatively  recent  con- 
glomeration of  types.  But  in  Egypt  the  subjects 
of  archaic  Pharaohs,  it  seems  certain,  were  exactly 
similar  to  those  of  the  modern  Khedives,  and  new 
blood  has  never  been  introduced  into  the  nation 
to  an  appreciable  extent,  not  even  by  the  Arabs. 
Thus,  if  there  is  any  importance  in  the  bearing 
of  history  upon  politics,  we  have  in  Egypt  a 
better  chance  of  appreciating  it  than  we  have  in 
the  case  of  any  other  country. 

It  is  true  that  the  language  has  altered,  but 
this  is  not  a  matter  of  first-rate  importance.  A 
Jew  is  not  less  typical  because  he  speaks  German, 


The  Egyptian  Empire. 


29 


French,  or  English  ;  and  the  cracking  of  skulls 
in  Ireland  is  introduced  as  easily  in  English  as 
it  was  in  Erse.  The  old  language  of  the  Egyptian 
hieroglyphs  actually  is  not  yet  quite  dead ;  for, 
in  its  Coptic  form,  it  is  still  spoken  by  many 
Christian  Egyptians,  who  will  salute  their  friends 
in  that  tongue,  or  bid  them  good-morning  or  good- 
night. Ancient  Egyptian  in  this  form  is  read  in 
the  Coptic  churches ;  and  God  is  called  upon  by 
that  same  name  which  was  given  to  Anion  and 
his  colleagues.  Many  old  Egyptian  words  have 
crept  into  the  Arabic  language,  and  are  now  in 
common  use  in  the  country ;  while  often  the  old 
words  are  confused  with  Arabic  words  of  similar 
sound.  Thus,  at  Abydos,  the  archaic  fortress  is 
now  called  the  Shunet  es  Zebib,  which  in  Arabic 
would  have  the  inexplicable  meaning  "the  store- 
house of  raisins  "  ;  but  in  the  old  Egyptian  lan- 
guage its  name,  of  similar  sound,  meant  "  the 
fortress  of  the  Ibis-jars,"  several  of  these  sacred 
birds  having  been  buried  there  in  jars,  after  the 
place  had  been  disused  as  a  military  stronghold. 
A  large  number  of  Egyptian  towns  still  bear  their 
hieroglyphical  names  :  Aswan,  (Kom)  Ombo,  Edfu, 
Esneh,  Keft,  Kus,  Keneh,  Dendereh,  for  example. 
The  real  origin  of  these  being  now  forgotten,  some 
of  them  have  been  given  false  Arabic  derivations, 
and  stories  have  been  invented  to  account  for  the 
peculiar  significance  of  the  words  thus  introduced. 
The  word  SUsileh  in  Arabic  means  "  a  chain,"  and 
a  place  in  Upper  Egypt  which  bears  that  name 


30        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


is  now  said  to  be  so  called  because  a  certain  king 
here  stretched  a  chain  across  the  river  to  inter- 
rupt the  shipping ;  but  in  reality  the  name  is 
derived  from  a  mispronounced  hieroglyphical  word 
meaning  "  a  boundary."  Similarly  the  town  of 
Damanhur  in  Lower  Egypt  is  said  to  be  the 
place  at  which  a  great  massacre  took  place,  for 
in  Arabic  the  name  may  be  interpreted  as  mean- 
ing "  rivers  of  blood,"  whereas  actually  the  name 
in  Ancient  Egyptian  means  simply  "  the  Town  of 
Horus."  The  archaeological  traveller  in  Egypt 
meets  with  instances  of  the  continued  use  of  the 
language  of  the  Pharaohs  at  every  turn ;  and 
there  are  few  things  that  make  the  science  of 
Egyptology  more  alive,  or  remove  it  further  from 
the  dusty  atmosphere  of  the  museum,  than  this 
.  hearing  of  the  old  words  actually  spoken  by  the 
modern  inhabitants  of  the  land. 

The  religion  of  Ancient  Egypt,  like  those  of 
Greece  and  Borne,  was  killed  by  Christianity, 
which  largely  gave  place,  at  a  later  date,  to 
Muhammedanism ;  and  yet,  in  the  hearts  of  the 
people  there  are  still  an  extraordinary  number 
of  the  old  pagan  beliefs.  I  will  mention  a  few 
instances,  taking  them  at  random  from  my 
memory. 

In  ancient  days  the  ithiphallic  god  Min  was  the 
patron  of  the  crops,  who  watched  over  the  growth 
of  the  grain.  In  modern  times  a  degenerate  figure 
of  this  god  Min,  made  of  whitewashed  wood  and 
mud,  may  be  seen  standing,  like  a  scarecrow,  in 


The  Egyptian  Empire.  31 


the  fields  throughout  Egypt.  When  the  sailors 
cross  the  Nile  they  may  often  be  heard  singing 
Ya  Amuni,  Ya  Amuni,  "  O  Anion,  O  Amon,"  as 
though  calling  upon  that  forgotten  god  for  assist- 
ance. At  Aswan  those  who  are  about  to  travel 
far  still  go  up  to  pray  at  the  site  of  the  travellers' 
shrine,  which  was  dedicated  to  the  gods  of  the 
cataracts.  At  Thebes  the  women  climb  a  certain 
hill  to  make  their  supplications  at  the  now  lost 
sanctuary  of  Meretsegert,  the  serpent-goddess  of 
olden  times.  A  snake,  the  relic  of  the  household 
goddess,  is  often  kept  as  a  kind  of  pet  in  the 
houses  of  the  peasants.  Barren  women  still  go 
to  the  ruined  temples  of  the  forsaken  gods  in  the 
hope  that  there  is  virtue  in  the  stones ;  and  I 
myself  have  given  permission  to  disappointed  hus- 
bands to  take  their  childless  wives  to  these  places, 
where  they  have  kissed  the  stones  and  embraced 
the  figures  of  the  gods.  The  hair  of  the  jackal 
is  burnt  in  the  presence  of  dying  people,  even  of 
the  upper  classes,  unknowingly  to  avert  the  jackal- 
god  Anubis,  the  Lord  of  Death.  A  scarab  repre- 
senting the  god  of  creation  is  sometimes  placed 
in  the  bath  of  a  young  married  woman  to  give 
virtue  to  the  water.  A  decoration  in  white  paint 
over  the  doorways  of  certain  houses  in  the  south 
is  a  relic  of  the  religious  custom  of  placing  a 
bucranium  there  to  avert  evil.  Certain  temple- 
watchmen  still  call  upon  the  spirits  resident  in 
the  sanctuaries  to  depart  before  they  will  enter 
the  building.    At  Karnak  a  statue  of  the  goddess 


32        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


Sekhmet  is  regarded  with  holy  awe ;  and  the  god- 
dess who  once  was  said  to  have  massacred  mankind 
is  even  now  thought  to  delight  in  slaughter.  The 
golden  barque  of  Amon  -  Ha,  which  once  floated 
upon  the  sacred  lake  of  Karnak,  is  said  to  be 
seen  sometimes  by  the  natives  at  the  present 
time,  who  have  not  yet  forgotten  its  former 
existence.  In  the  processional  festival  of  Abu'l 
Haggag,  the  patron  saint  of  Luxor,  whose  mosque 
and  tomb  stand  upon  the  ruins  of  the  Temple  of 
Amon,  a  boat  is  dragged  over  the  ground  in 
unwitting  remembrance  of  the  dragging  of  the 
boat  of  Amon  in  the  processions  of  that  god. 
Similarly  in  the  Mouled  el  Nebi  procession  at 
Luxor,  boats  placed  upon  carts  are  drawn  through 
the  streets,  just  as  one  may  see  them  in  the 
ancient  paintings  and  reliefs.  The  patron  gods 
of  Kom  Ombo,  Horur  and  Sebek,  yet  remain  in 
the  memories  of  the  peasants  of  the  neighbour- 
hood as  the  two  brothers  who  lived  in  the  temple 
in  the  days  of  old.  A  robber  entering  a  tomb 
will  smash  the  eyes  of  the  figures  of  the  gods 
and  deceased  persons  represented  therein,  that 
they  may  not  observe  his  actions,  just  as  did 
his  ancestors  four  thousand  years  ago.  At  Gurneh 
a  farmer  recently  broke  the  arms  of  an  ancient 
statue,  which  lay  half-buried  near  his  fields,  be- 
cause he  believed  that  they  had  damaged  his 
crops.  In  the  south  of  Egypt  a  pot  of  water 
is  placed  upon  the  graves  of  the  dead,  that  their 
ghost,  or  ka,  as  it  would  have  been  called  in  old 


The  Egyptian  Empire.  33 


times,  may  not  suffer  from  thirst ;  and  the  living 
will  sometimes  call  upon  the  name  of  the  dead, 
standing  at  night  in  the  cemeteries. 

The  ancient  magic  of  Egypt  is  still  widely 
practised,  and  many  of  the  formulas  used  in 
modern  times  are  familiar  to  the  Egyptologist. 
The  Egyptian,  indeed,  lives  in  a  world  much 
influenced  by  magic  and  thickly  populated  by 
spirits,  demons,  and  djins.  Educated  men  holding 
Government  appointments,  and  dressing  in  the 
smartest  European  manner,  will  describe  their 
miraculous  adventures  and  their  meetings  with 
djins.  An  Egyptian  gentleman  holding  an  im- 
portant administrative  post,  told  me  the  other 
day  how  his  cousin  was  wont  to  change  himself 
into  a  cat  at  night  time,  and  to  prowl  about 
the  town.  When  a  boy,  his  father  noticed  this 
peculiarity,  and  on  one  occasion  chased  and  beat 
the  cat,  with  the  result  that  the  boy's  body  next 
morning  was  found  to  be  covered  with  stripes  and 
bruises.  The  uncle  of  my  informant  once  read 
such  strong  language  (magically)  in  a  certain 
book  that  it  began  to  tremble  violently,  and 
finally  made  a  dash  for  it  out  of  the  window. 
This  same  personage  was  once  sitting  beneath 
a  palm-tree  with  a  certain  magician  (who,  I  fear, 
was  also  a  conjurer),  when,  happening  to  remark 
on  the  clusters  of  dates  twenty  feet  or  so  above 
his  head,  his  friend  stretched  his  arms  upwards 
and  his  hands  were  immediately  filled  with  the 
fruit.     At  another  time  this  magician  left  his 

c 


34        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


overcoat  by  mistake  in  a  railway  carriage,  and 
only  remembered  it  when  the  train  was  a  mere 
speck  upon  the  horizon ;  but,  on  the  utterance 
of  certain  words,  the  coat  immediately  flew 
through  the  air  back  to  him. 

I  mention  these  particular  instances  because 
they  were  told  to  me  by  educated  persons ;  but 
amongst  the  peasants  even  more  incredible  stories 
are  gravely  accepted.  The  Omdeh,  or  headman, 
of  the  village  of  Chaghb,  not  far  from  Luxor,  sub- 
mitted an  official  complaint  to  the  police  a  short 
time  ago  against  an  afrit  or  devil  which  was  doing 
much  mischief  to  him  and  his  neighbours,  snatch- 
ing up  oil-lamps  and  pouring  the  oil  over  the 
terrified  villagers,  throwing  stones  at  passers-by, 
and  so  forth.  Spirits  of  the  dead  in  like  manner 
haunt  the  living,  and  often  do  them  mischief.  At 
Luxor,  lately,  the  ghost  of  a  well-known  robber 
persecuted  his  widow  to  such  an  extent  that  she 
finally  went  mad.  A  remarkable  parallel  to  this 
case,  dating  from  Pharaonic  days,  may  be  men- 
tioned. It  is  the  letter  of  a  haunted  widower  to 
his  dead  wife,  in  which  he  asks  her  why  she  per- 
secutes him,  since  he  was  always  kind  to  her 
during  her  life,  nursed  her  through  illnesses,  and 
never  grieved  her  heart.1 

These  instances  might  be  multiplied,  but  those 
which  I  have  quoted  will  serve  to  show  that  the 
old  gods  are  still  alive,  and  that  the  famous 
magic  of  the  Egyptians  is  not  yet  a  thing  of  the 

1  Maspcro  :  1  Etudes  egyptologiques,'  i.  145. 


The  Egyptian  Empire.  35 


past.  Let  us  now  turn  to  the  affairs  of  everyday 
life. 

An  archaeological  traveller  in  Egypt  cannot  fail 
to  observe  the  similarity  between  old  and  modern 
customs  as  he  rides  through  the  villages  and  across 
the  fields.  The  houses,  when  not  built  upon  the 
European  plan,  are  surprisingly  like  those  of 
ancient  days.  The  old  cornice  still  survives,  and 
the  rows  of  dried  palm  stems,  from  which  its  form 
was  originally  derived,  are  still  to  be  seen  on  the 
walls  of  gardens  and  courtyards.  The  huts  or 
shelters  of  dried  corn-stalks,  so  often  erected  in 
the  fields,  are  precisely  the  same  as  those  used  in 
prehistoric  days  ;  and  the  archaic  bunches  of  corn- 
stalks smeared  with  mud,  which  gave  their  form  to 
later  stone  columns,  are  set  up  to  this  day,  though 
their  stone  posterity  are  now  in  ruins.  Looking 
through  the  doorway  of  one  of  these  ancient 
houses,  the  traveller,  perhaps,  sees  a  woman 
grinding  corn  or  kneading  bread  in  exactly  the 
same  manner  as  her  ancestress  did  in  the  days 
of  the  Pharaohs.  Only  the  other  day  a  native 
asked  to  be  allowed  to  purchase  from  us  some  of 
the  ancient  millstones  lying  in  one  of  the  Theban 
temples,  in  order  to  re-use  them  on  his  farm.  The 
traveller  will  notice,  in  some  shady  corner,  the 
village  barber  shaving  the  heads  and  faces  of  his 
patrons,  just  as  he  is  seen  in  the  Theban  tomb- 
paintings  of  thousands  of  years  ago  ;  and  the  small 
boys  who  scamper  across  the  road  will  have  just 
the  same  tufts  of  hair  left  for  decoration  on  their 


36        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


shaven  heads  as  had  the  boys  of  ancient  Thebes 
and  Memphis.  In  another  house,  where  a  death 
has  occurred,  the  mourning  women,  waving  the 
same  blue  cloth  which  was  the  token  of  mourning 
in  ancient  days,  will  toss  their  arms  about  in 
gestures  familiar  to  every  student  of  ancient 
scenes.  Presently  the  funeral  will  issue  forth, 
and  the  men  will  sing  that  solemn  yet  cheery  tune 
which  never  fails  to  call  to  mind  the  far-famed 
Maneros  —  that  song  which  Herodotus  describes 
as  a  plaintive  funeral  dirge,  and  which  Plutarch 
asserts  was  suited  at  the  same  time  to  festive 
occasions.  In  some  other  house  a  marriage  will 
be  taking  place,  and  the  singers  and  pipers  will, 
in  like  manner,  recall  the  scenes  upon  the  monu- 
ments. The  former  have  a  favourite  gesture — the 
placing  of  the  hand  behind  the  ear  as  they  sing — 
which  is  frequently  shown  in  ancient  representa- 
tions of  such  festive  scenes.  The  dancing  girls, 
too,  are  here  to  be  seen,  their  eyes  and  cheeks 
heavily  painted,  as  were  those  of  their  ancestresses; 
and  in  their  hands  are  the  same  tambourines  as  are 
carried  by  their  class  in  Pharaonic  paintings  and 
reliefs.  The  same  date-wine  which  intoxicated 
the  worshippers  of  the  Egyptian  Bacchus  goes  the 
round  of  this  village  company,  and  the  same  food 
stuff,  the  same  small,  flat  loaves  of  bread,  are 
eaten. 

Passing  out  into  the  fields  the  traveller  observes 
the  ground  raked  into  the  small  squares  for  irriga- 
tion which  the  prehistoric  farmer  made ;  and  the 


Pl.  iv. 


The  Egyptian  Empire. 


37 


plough  is  shaped  as  it  always  was.  The  shadoof, 
or  water-hoist,  is  patiently  worked  as  it  has  been 
for  thousands  of  years  ;  while  the  cylindrical  hoist 
employed  in  Lower  Egypt  was  invented  and  intro- 
duced in  Ptolemaic  times.  Threshing  and  win- 
nowing proceed  in  the  manner  represented  on  the 
monuments,  and  the  methods  of  sowing  and 
reaping  have  not  changed.  Along  the  embanked 
roads,  men,  cattle,  and  donkeys  file  past  against 
the  sky-line,  recalling  the  straight  rows  of  such 
figures  depicted  so  often  upon  the  monuments. 
Overhead  there  flies  the  vulture  goddess  Nekheb, 
and  the  hawk  Horus  hovers  near  by.  Across  the 
road  ahead  slinks  the  jackal,  Anubis ;  under  one's 
feet  crawls  Khepera,  the  scarab ;  and  there,  under 
the  sacred  tree,  sleeps  the  horned  ram  of  Amon. 
In  all  directions  the  hieroglyphs  of  the  ancient 
Egyptians  pass  to  and  fro,  as  though  some  old 
temple-inscription  had  come  to  life.  The  letter  m, 
the  owl,  goes  hooting  past.  The  letter  a,  the 
eagle,  circles  overhead ;  the  sign  icr,  the  wagtail, 
flits  at  the  roadside,  chirping  at  the  sign  rekh, 
the  peewit.  Along  the  road  comes  the  sign  ab, 
the  frolicking  calf ;  and  near  it  is  ha,  the  bull ; 
while  behind  them  wralks  the  sign  fa,  a  man 
carrying  a  basket  on  his  head.  In  all  directions 
are  the  figures  from  which  the  ancients  made  their 
hieroglyphical  script ;  and  thus  that  wonderful  old 
writing  at  once  ceases  to  be  mysterious,  a  thing  of 
long  ago,  and  one  realises  how  natural  a  product  of 
the  country  it  was. 


38        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


In  a  word,  ancient  and  modern  Egyptians  are 
fundamentally  similar.  Nor  is  there  any  great 
difference  to  be  observed  between  the  country's 
relations  with  foreign  powers  in  ancient  days  and 
those  of  the  last  hundred  years.  As  has  been 
seen  in  the  last  chapter,  Egypt  was  usually 
occupied  by  a  foreign  power,  or  ruled  by  a  foreign 
dynasty,  just  as  at  the  present  day ;  and  a  foreign 
army  was  retained  in  the  country  during  most  of 
the  later  periods  of  ancient  history.  There  were 
always  numerous  foreigners  settled  in  Egypt,  and 
in  Ptolemaic  and  Roman  times  Alexandria  and 
Memphis  swarmed  with  them.  The  great  powers 
of  the  civilised  world  were  always  watching  Egypt 
as  they  do  now,  not  always  in  a  friendly  attitude 
to  that  one  of  themselves  which  occupied  the 
country ;  and  the  chief  power  with  which  Egypt 
was  concerned  in  the  time  of  the  Ramesside 
Pharaohs  inhabited  Asia  Minor  and  perhaps 
Turkey,  just  as  in  the  middle  ages  and  the  last 
century.  Then,  as  in  modern  times,  Egypt  had 
much  of  her  attention  held  by  the  Sudan,  and 
constant  expeditions  had  to  be  made  into  the 
regions  above  the  cataracts.  Thus  it  cannot  be 
argued  that  ancient  history  offers  no  precedent 
for  modern  affairs  because  all  things  have  now 
changed.  Things  have  changed  extremely  little, 
broadly  speaking ;  and  general  lines  of  conduct 
have  the  same  significance  at  the  present  time 
as  they  had  in  the  past. 

I  wish  now  to  give  an  outline  of  Egypt's  re- 


The  Egyptian  Empire.  39 


lationship  to  her  most  important  neighbour,  Syria, 
in  order  that  the  bearing  of  history  upon  modern 
political  matters  may  be  demonstrated ;  for  it 
would  seem  that  the  records  of  the  past  make 
clear  a  tendency  which  is  now  somewhat  over- 
looked. I  employ  this  subject  simply  as  an 
example. 

From  the  earliest  historical  times  the  Egyptians 
have  endeavoured  to  hold  Syria  and  Palestine  as  a 
vassal  state.  One  of  the  first  Pharaohs  with  whom 
we  meet  in  Egyptian  history,  King  Zeser  of  Dynasty 
III.,  is  known  to  have  sent  a  fleet  to  the  Lebanon 
in  order  to  procure  cedar  wood,  and  there  is  some 
evidence  to  show  that  he  held  sway  over  this 
country.  For  how  many  centuries  previous  to 
his  reign  the  Pharaohs  had  overrun  Syria  we 
cannot  now  say,  but  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose 
that  Zeser  initiated  the  aggressive  policy  of  Egypt 
in  Asia.  Sahura,  a  Pharaoh  of  Dynasty  V. ,  attacked 
the  Phoenician  coast  with  his  fleet,  and  returned 
to  the  Nile  Valley  with  a  number  of  Syrian  cap- 
tives. Pepi  I.  of  the  succeeding  dynasty  also 
attacked  the  coast-cities,  and  Pepi  II.  had  con- 
siderable intercourse  with  Asia.  Amenemhat  I., 
of  Dynasty  XII.,  fought  in  Syria,  and  appears  to 
have  brought  it  once  more  under  Egyptian  sway. 
Senusert  I.  seems  to  have  controlled  the  country 
to  some  extent,  for  Egyptians  lived  there  in  some 
numbers.  Senusert  III.  won  a  great  victory  over 
the  Asiatics  in  Syria ;  and  a  stela  and  statue  be- 
longing to  Egyptian  officials  have  been  found  at 


40        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


Gezer,  between  Jerusalem  and  the  sea.  After 
each  of  the  above-mentioned  wars  it  is  to  be  pre- 
sumed that  the  Egyptians  held  Syria  for  some 
years,  though  little  is  now  known  of  the  events 
of  these  far-off  times. 

During  the  Hyksos  dynasties  in  Egypt  there 
lived  a  Pharaoh  named  Khyan  who  was  of  Semitic 
extraction  ;  and  there  is  some  reason  to  suppose 
that  he  ruled  from  Baghdad  to  the  Sudan,  he  and 
his  fathers  having  created  a  great  Egyptian  Em- 
pire by  the  aid  of  foreign  troops.  Egypt's  con- 
nection with  Asia  during  the  Hyksos  rule  is  not 
clearly  defined,  but  the  very  fact  that  these 
foreign  kings  were  anxious  to  call  themselves 
"  Pharaohs"  shows  that  Egypt  dominated  in  the 
east  end  of  the  Mediterranean.  The  Hyksos  kings 
of  Egypt  very  probably  held  Syria  in  fee,  being 
possessed  of  both  countries,  but  preferring  to  hold 
their  court  in  Egypt. 

We  now  come  to  the  great  Dynasty  XVIII., 
and  we  learn  more  fully  of  the  Egyptian  invasions 
of  Syria.  Ahmosis  I.  drove  the  Hyksos  out  of  the 
Delta  and  pursued  them  through  Judah.  His 
successor,  Amenhotep  I.,  appears  to  have  seized 
all  the  country  as  far  as  the  Euphrates ;  and 
Thutmosis  L,  his  son,  was  able  to  boast  that  he 
ruled  even  unto  that  river.  Thutmosis  III., 
Egypt's  greatest  Pharaoh,  led  invasion  after  in- 
vasion into  Syria,  so  that  his  name  for  generations 
was  a  terror  to  the  inhabitants.  From  the  Euph- 
rates to  the  fourth  cataract  of  the  Nile  the  countries 


The  Egyptian  Empire.  41 


acknowledged  him  king,  and  the  mighty  Egyptian 
fleet  patrolled  the  seas.  This  Pharaoh  fought  no 
less  than  seventeen  campaigns  in  Asia,  and  he  left 
to  his  son  the  most  powerful  throne  in  the  world. 
Amenhotep  II.  maintained  this  empire  and  quelled 
the  revolts  of  the  Asiatics  with  a  strong  hand. 
Thutmosis  IV.,  his  son,  conducted  two  expeditions 
into  Syria ;  and  the  next  king,  Amenhotep  III., 
was  acknowledged  throughout  that  country. 

That  extraordinary  dreamer,  Akhnaton,  the 
succeeding  Pharaoh,  allowed  the  empire  to  pass 
from  him  owing  to  his  religious  objections  to  war ; 
but,  after  his  death,  Tutankhamen  once  more  led 
the  Egyptian  armies  into  Asia.  Horemheb  also 
made  a  bid  for  Syria ;  and  Seti  L  recovered  Pales- 
tine. Rameses  II.,  his  son,  penetrated  to  North 
Syria ;  but,  having  come  into  contact  with  the 
new  power  of  the  Hittites,  he  was  unable  to  hold 
the  country.  The  new  Pharaoh,  Merenptah,  seized 
Canaan  and  laid  waste  the  land  of  Israel.  A  few 
years  later,  Pameses  III.  led  his  fleet  and  his  army 
to  the  Syrian  coast  and  defeated  the  Asiatics  in 
a  great  sea-battle.  He  failed  to  hold  the  country, 
however,  and  after  his  death  Egypt  remained  im- 
potent for  two  centuries.  Then,  under  Sheshonk  I., 
of  Dynasty  XXII.,  a  new  attempt  was  made,  and 
Jerusalem  was  captured.  Takeloth  II.,  of  the 
same  dynasty,  sent  thither  an  Egyptian  army 
to  help  in  the  overthrow  of  Shalmaneser  II. 

From  this  time  onwards  the  power  of  Egypt 
had  so  much  declined  that  the  invasions  into  Syria 


42        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


of  necessity  became  more  rare.  Shabaka  of  Dy- 
nasty XXV.  concerned  himself  deeply  with  Asiatic 
politics,  and  attempted  to  bring  about  a  state 
of  affairs  which  would  have  given  him  the  oppor- 
tunity of  seizing  the  country.  Pharaoh  Necho, 
of  the  succeeding  dynasty,  invaded  Palestine  and 
advanced  towards  the  Euphrates.  He  recovered 
for  Egypt  her  Syrian  province,  but  it  was  speedily 
lost  again.  Apries,  a  few  years  later,  captured  the 
Phoenician  coast  and  invaded  Palestine ;  but  the 
country  did  not  remain  for  long  under  Egyptian 
rule.  It  is  not  necessary  to  record  all  the  Syrian 
wars  of  the  Dynasty  of  the  Ptolemies.  Egypt  and 
Asia  were  now  closely  connected,  and  at  several 
periods  during  this  phase  of  Egyptian  history  the 
Asiatic  province  came  under  the  control  of  the 
Pharaohs.  The  wars  of  Ptolemy  I.  in  Syria  were 
conducted  on  a  large  scale.  In  the  reign  of 
Ptolemy  III.  there  were  three  campaigns,  and  I 
cannot  refrain  from  quoting  a  contemporary  record 
of  the  King's  power,  if  only  for  the  splendour  of  its 
wording : — 

"The  great  King  Ptolemy  .  .  .  having  in- 
herited from  his  father  the  royalty  of  Egypt  and 
Libya  and  Syria  and  Phoenicia  and  Cyprus  and 
Lycia  and  Caria  and  the  Cyclades,  set  out  on 
a  campaign  into  Asia  with  infantry  and  cavalry 
forces,  and  a  naval  armament  and  elephants,  both 
Troglodyte  and  Ethiopic.  .  .  .  But  having  become 
master  of  all  the  country  within  the  Euphrates, 
and  of  Cilicia  and  Pamphylia  and  Ionia  and  the 


The  Egyptian  Empire.  43 


Hellespont  and  Thrace,  and  of  all  the  military 
forces  and  elephants  in  these  countries,  and  hav- 
ing made  the  monarchs  in  all  these  places  his 
subjects,  he  crossed  the  Euphrates,  and  having 
brought  under  him  Mesopotamia  and  Babylonia 
and  Susiana  and  Persis  and  Media,  and  all  the 
rest  as  far  as  Bactriana  ...  he  sent  forces  through 
the  canals  "    (Here  the  text  breaks  off.) 

Later  in  this  dynasty  Ptolemy  VII.  was  crowned 
King  of  Syria,  but  the  kingdom  did  not  remain 
long  in  his  power.  Then  came  the  Romans,  and 
for  many  years  Syria  and  Egypt  were  sister  pro- 
vinces of  one  empire. 

There  is  no  necessity  to  record  the  close  con- 
nection between  the  two  countries  in  Arabic  times. 
For  a  large  part  of  that  era  Egypt  and  Syria 
formed  part  of  the  same  empire ;  and  we  con- 
stantly find  Egyptians  fighting  in  Asia.  Now, 
under  Edh  Dhahir  Bebars  of  the  Baharide  Mame- 
luke Dynasty,  we  see  them  helping  to  subject 
Syria  and  Armenia;  now,  under  El-Mansur 
Kalaun,  Damascus  is  captured ;  and  now  En 
Nasir  Muhammed  is  found  reigning  from  Tunis 
to  Baghdad.  In  the  Circassian  Mameluke  Dy- 
nasty we  see  El  Muayyad  crushing  a  revolt  in 
Syria,  and  El  Ashraf  Bursbey  capturing  King 
John  of  Cyprus  and  keeping  his  hand  on  Syria. 
And  so  the  tale  continues,  until,  as  a  final  picture, 
we  see  Ibrahim  Pasha  leading  the  Egyptians  into 
Asia  and  crushing  the  Turks  at  Iconium. 

Such  is  the  long  list  of  the  wars  waged  by  Egypt 


44        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


in  Syria.  Are  we  to  suppose  that  these  continuous 
incursions  into  Asia  have  suddenly  come  to  an 
end  ?  Are  we  to  imagine  that  because  there 
has  been  a  respite  for  a  hundred  years  the  pre- 
cedent of  six  thousand  years  has  now  to  be  dis- 
regarded ?  By  the  recent  reconquest  of  the  Sudan 
it  has  been  shown  that  the  old  political  necessities 
still  exist  for  Egypt  in  the  south,  impelling  her 
to  be  mistress  of  the  upper  reaches  of  the  Nile.  Is 
there  now  no  longer  any  chance  of  her  expanding 
in  other  directions  should  her  hands  become  free  ? 

The  reader  may  answer  with  the  argument  that 
in  early  days  England  made  invasion  after  invasion 
into  France,  yet  ceased  after  a  while  to  do  so.  But 
this  is  no  parallel.  England  was  impelled  to  war 
with  France  because  the  English  monarchs  believed 
themselves  to  be,  by  inheritance,  kings  of  a  large 
part  of  France ;  and  when  they  ceased  to  believe 
this  they  ceased  to  make  war.  The  Pharaohs  of 
Egypt  never  considered  themselves  to  be  kings  of 
Syria,  and  never  used  any  title  suggesting  an  in- 
herited sovereignty.  They  merely  held  Syria  as  a 
buffer  state,  and  claimed  no  more  than  an  overlord- 
ship  there.  Now  Syria  is  still  a  buffer  state,  and  the 
root  of  the  trouble,  therefore,  still  exists.  Though 
I  must  disclaim  all  knowledge  of  modern  politics, 
I  am  quite  sure  that  it  is  no  meaningless  phrase 
to  say  that  England  will  most  carefully  hold  this 
tendency  in  check  and  prevent  an  incursion  into 
Syria;  but,  with  a  strong  controlling  hand  re- 
laxed, it  would  require  more  than  human  strength 


The  Egyptian  Empire.  45 


to  eradicate  an  Egyptian  tendency — nay,  a  habit, 
of  six  thousand  years'  standing.  Try  as  she  might, 
Egypt,  as  far  as  an  historian  can  see,  would  not 
be  able  to  prevent  herself  passing  ultimately  into 
Syria  again.  How  or  when  this  would  take  place 
an  Egyptologist  cannot  see,  for  he  is  accustomed 
to  deal  in  long  periods  of  time,  and  to  consider 
the  centuries  as  others  might  the  decades.  It 
might  not  come  for  a  hundred  years  or  more :  it 
might  come  suddenly  quite  by  accident. 

In  1907  there  was  a  brief  moment  when  Egypt 
appeared  to  be,  quite  unknowingly,  on  the  verge 
of  an  attempted  reconquest  of  her  lost  province. 
There  was  a  misunderstanding  with  Turkey  regard- 
ing the  delineation  of  the  Syrio-Sinaitic  frontier ; 
and,  immediately,  the  Egyptian  Government  took 
strong  action  and  insisted  that  the  question  should 
be  settled.  Had  there  been  bloodshed  the  seat 
of  hostilities  would  have  been  Syria ;  and  suppos- 
ing that  Egypt  had  been  victorious,  she  would  have 
pushed  the  opposing  forces  over  the  North  Syrian 
frontier  into  Asia  Minor,  and  when  peace  was 
declared  she  would  have  found  herself  dictating 
terms  from  a  point  of  vantage  three  hundred  miles 
north  of  Jerusalem.  Can  it  be  supposed  that  she 
would  then  have  desired  to  abandon  the  recon- 
quered territory  ? 

However,  matters  were  settled  satisfactorily  with 
the  Porte,  and  the  Egyptian  Government,  which 
had  never  realised  this  trend  of  events,  and  had 
absolutely  no  designs  upon  Syria,  gave  no  further 


46        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


consideration  to  Asiatic  affairs.  In  the  eyes  of  the 
modern  onlookers  the  whole  matter  had  developed 
from  a  series  of  chances ;  but  in  the  view  of  the 
historian  the  moment  of  its  occurrence  was  the 
only  chance  about  it,  the  fact  of  its  occurrence 
being  inevitable  according  to  the  time-proven  rules 
of  history.  The  phrase  "England  in  Egypt"  has 
been  given  such  prominence  of  late  that  a  far  more 
important  phrase,  "Egypt  in  Asia,"  has  been 
overlooked.  Yet,  whereas  the  former  is  a  catch- 
word of  barely  thirty  years'  standing,  the  latter 
has  been  familiar  at  the  east  end  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean for  forty  momentous  centuries  at  the  lowest 
computation,  and  rings  in  the  ears  of  the  Egypt- 
ologist all  through  the  ages.  I  need  thus  no  justi- 
fication for  recalling  it  in  these  pages. 

Now  let  us  glance  at  Egypt's  north-western 
frontier.  Behind  the  deserts  which  spread  to 
the  west  of  the  Delta  lies  the  oasis  of  Siwa;  and 
from  here  there  is  a  continuous  line  of  communi- 
cation with  Tripoli  and  Tunis.  Thus,  during  the 
present  winter  (1910-11),  the  outbreak  of  cholera 
at  Tripoli  has  necessitated  the  despatch  of  quaran- 
tine officials  to  the  oasis  in  order  to  prevent  the 
spread  of  the  disease  into  Egypt.  Now,  of  late 
years  we  have  heard  much  talk  regarding  the 
Senussi  fraternity,  a  Muhammedan  sect  which  is 
said  to  be  prepared  to  declare  a  holy  war  and 
to  descend  upon  Egypt.  In  1909  the  Egyptian 
Mamur  of  Siwa  was  murdered,  and  it  was  freely 
stated  that  this  act  of  violence  was  the  beginning 


The  Egyptian  Empire.  47 


of  the  trouble.  I  have  no  idea  as  to  the  real 
extent  of  the  danger,  nor  do  I  know  whether 
this  bogie  of  the  west,  which  is  beginning  to  cause 
such  anxiety  in  Egypt  in  certain  classes,  is  but 
a  creation  of  the  imagination ;  but  it  will  be 
interesting  to  notice  the  frequent  occurrence  of 
hostilities  in  this  direction,  since  the  history 
of  Egypt's  gateways  is  surely  a  study  meet  for 
her  guardians. 

When  the  curtain  first  rises  upon  archaic  times, 
we  find  those  far-off  Pharaohs  struggling  with 
the  Libyans  who  had  penetrated  into  the  Delta 
from  Tripoli  and  elsewhere.  In  early  dynastic 
history  they  are  the  chief  enemies  of  the  Egyp- 
tians, and  great  armies  have  to  be  levied  to  drive 
them  back  through  Siwa  to  their  homes.  Again 
in  Dynasty  XII.,  Amenemhat  I,  had  to  despatch 
his  son  to  drive  these  people  out  of  Egypt ;  and  at 
the  beginning  of  Dynasty  XVIII.,  Amenhotep  I. 
was  obliged  once  more  to  give  them  battle.  Seti 
I.  of  Dynasty  XIX.  made  war  upon  them,  and 
repulsed  their  invasion  into  Egypt.  Kameses  II. 
had  to  face  an  alliance  of  Libyans,  Lycians,  and 
others,  in  the  western  Delta.  His  son  Merenptah 
waged  a  most  desperate  war  with  them  in  order 
to  defend  Egypt  against  their  incursions,  a  war 
which  has  been  described  as  the  most  perilous  in 
Egyptian  history ;  and  it  was  only  after  a  battle 
in  which  nine  thousand  of  the  enemy  were  slain 
that  the  war  came  to  an  end.  Rameses  III.,  how- 
ever, was  again  confronted  with  these  persistent 


48        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


invaders,  and  only  succeeded  in  checking  them 
temporarily.  Presently  the  tables  were  turned, 
and  Dynasty  XXII. ,  which  reigned  so  gloriously 
in  Egypt,  was  Libyan  in  origin.  No  attempt  was 
made  thenceforth  for  many  years  to  check  the 
peaceful  entrance  of  Libyans  into  Egypt,  and  soon 
that  nation  held  a  large  part  of  the  Delta.  Occa- 
sional mention  is  made  of  troubles  upon  the  north- 
west frontier,  but  little  more  is  heard  of  any 
serious  invasions.  In  Arabic  times  disturbances 
are  not  infrequent,  and  certain  sovereigns,  as  for 
example,  El  Mansur  Kalaun,  were  obliged  to  in- 
vade the  enemy's  country,  thus  extending  Egypt's 
power  as  far  as  Tunis. 

There  is  one  lesson  which  may  be  learnt  from 
the  above  facts — namely,  that  this  frontier  is  some- 
what exposed,  and  that  incursions  from  North 
Africa  by  way  of  Siwa  are  historic  possibilities. 
If  the  Senussi  invasion  of  Egypt  is  ever  at- 
tempted it  will  not,  at  any  rate,  be  without 
precedent. 

When  England  entered  Egypt  in  1882  she 
found  a  nation  without  external  interests,  a 
country  too  impoverished  and  weak  to  think  of 
aught  else  but  its  own  sad  condition.  The  reviv- 
ing of  this  much -bled,  anaemic  people,  and  the 
reorganisation  of  the  Government,  occupied  the 
whole  attention  of  the  Anglo-Egyptian  officials, 
and  placed  Egypt  before  their  eyes  in  only  this 
one  aspect.  Egypt  appeared  to  be  but  the  Nile 
Valley  and  the  Delta ;  and,  in  truth,  that  was, 


[Photo  by  E.  Brugsch  Pasha 

The  mummy  of  Sety  I.  of  Dynasty  XIX. — Cairo  Museum. 


Pl.  v. 


The  Egyptian  Empire.  49 


and  still  is,  quite  as  much  as  the  hard -worked 
officials  could  well  administer.  The  one  task  of 
the  regeneration  of  Egypt  was  all  absorbing,  and 
the  country  came  to  be  regarded  as  a  little  land 
wherein  a  concise,  clearly  -  defined,  and  compact 
problem  could  be  worked  out. 

Now,  while  this  was  most  certainly  the  correct 
manner  in  which  to  face  the  question,  and  while 
Egypt  has  benefited  enormously  by  this  single- 
ness of  purpose  in  her  officials,  it  was,  historically, 
a  false  attitude.  Egypt  is  not  a  little  country  : 
Egypt  is  a  crippled  Empire.  Throughout  her  his- 
tory she  has  been  the  powerful  rival  of  the  people 
of  Asia  Minor.  At  one  time  she  was  mistress  of 
the  Sudan,  Somaliland,  Palestine,  Syria,  Libya, 
and  Cyprus ;  and  the  Sicilians,  Sardinians,  Cret- 
ans, and  even  Greeks,  stood  in  fear  of  the  Pharaoh. 
In  Arabic  times  she  held  Tunis  and  Tripoli,  and 
even  in  the  last  century  she  was  the  foremost 
Power  at  the  east  end  of  the  Mediterranean. 
Napoleon  when  he  came  to  Egypt  realised  this 
very  thoroughly,  and  openly  aimed  to  make  her 
once  more  a  mighty  empire.  But  in  1882  such 
fine  dreams  were  not  to  be  considered  :  there  was 
too  much  work  to  be  done  in  the  Nile  Valley  itself. 
The  Egyptian  Empire  was  forgotten,  and  Egypt 
was  regarded  as  permanently  a  little  country. 
The  conditions  which  we  found  here  we  took  to 
be  permanent  conditions.  They  were  not.  We 
arrived  when  the  country  was  in  a  most  unnatural 
state  as  regards  its  foreign  relations ;  and  we  were 

D 


50        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


obliged  to  regard  that  state  as  chronic.  This, 
though  wise,  was  absolutely  incorrect.  Egypt  in 
the  past  never  has  been  for  more  than  a  short 
period  a  single  country  ;  and  all  history  goes  to 
show  that  she  will  not  always  be  single  in  the 
future. 

With  the  temporary  loss  of  the  Syrian  province 
Egypt's  need  for  a  navy  ceased  to  exist ;  and  the 
fact  that  she  is  really  a  naval  power  has  now 
passed  from  men's  memory.  Yet  it  was  not  much 
more  than  a  century  ago  that  Muhammed  Ali 
fought  a  great  naval  battle  with  the  Turks,  and 
utterly  defeated  them.  In  ancient  history  the 
Egyptian  navy  was  the  terror  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean, and  her  ships  policed  the  east  coast  of 
Africa.  In  prehistoric  times  the  Nile  boats  were 
built,  it  would  seem,  upon  a  seafaring  plan  :  a  fact 
that  has  led  some  scholars  to  suppose  that  the 
land  was  entered  and  colonised  from  across  the 
waters.  We  talk  of  Englishmen  as  being  born  to 
the  sea,  as  having  a  natural  and  inherited  tend- 
ency towards  "business  upon  great  waters";  and 
yet  the  English  navy  dates  from  the  days  of 
Queen  Elizabeth.  It  is  true  that  the  Plantagenet 
wars  with  France  checked  what  was  perhaps  al- 
ready a  nautical  bias,  and  that  had  it  not  been  for 
the  Norman  conquest,  England,  perchance  would 
have  become  a  sea  power  at  an  earlier  date.  But 
at  best  the  tendency  is  only  a  thousand  years  old 
In  Egypt  it  is  seven  or  eight  thousand  years  old 
at  the  lowest  computation.    It  makes  one  smile  to 


The  Egyptian  Empire. 


5i 


think  of  Egypt  as  a  naval  power.  It  is  the  busi- 
ness of  the  historian  to  refrain  from  smiling,  and 
to  remark  only  that,  absurd  as  it  may  sound, 
Egypt's  future  is  largely  upon  the  water  as  her 
past  has  been.  It  must  be  remembered  that  she 
was  fighting  great  battles  in  huge  warships  three 
or  four  hundred  feet  in  length  at  a  time  when 
Britons  were  paddling  about  in  canoes. 

One  of  the  ships  built  by  the  Pharaoh  Ptolemy 
Philopator  was  four  hundred  and  twenty  feet  long, 
and  had  several  banks  of  oars.  It  was  rowed  by 
four  thousand  sailors,  while  four  hundred  others 
managed  the  sails.  Three  thousand  soldiers  were 
also  carried  upon  its  decks.  The  royal  dahabiyeh 
which  this  Pharaoh  used  upon  the  Nile  was  three 
hundred  and  thirty  feet  long,  and  was  fitted  with 
state  rooms  and  private  rooms  of  considerable  size. 
Another  vessel  contained,  besides  the  ordinary 
cabins,  large  bath-rooms,  a  library,  and  an  astro- 
nomical observatory.  It  had  eight  towers,  in 
which  there  were  machines  capable  of  hurling 
stones  weighing  three  hundred  pounds  or  more, 
and  arrows  eighteen  feet  in  length.  These  huge 
vessels  were  built  some  two  centuries  before  Caesar 
landed  in  Britain.1 

In  conclusion,  then,  it  must  be  repeated  that 
the  present  Nile-centred  policy  in  Egypt,  though 
infinitely  best  for  the  country  at  this  juncture,  is 
an  artificial  one,  unnatural  to  the  nation  except 
as  a  passing  phase ;  and  what  may  be  called  the 

1  Athenseus,  v.  8. 


52        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


Imperial  policy  is  absolutely  certain  to  take  its 
place  in  time,  although  the  Anglo-Egyptian  Gov- 
ernment, so  long  as  it  exists,  will  do  all  in  its  power 
to  check  it.  History  tells  us  over  and  over  again 
that  Syria  is  the  natural  dependant  of  Egypt, 
fought  for  or  bargained  for  with  the  neighbouring 
countries  to  the  north ;  that  the  Sudan  is  likewise 
a  natural  vassal  which  from  time  to  time  revolts 
and  has  to  be  reconquered ;  and  that  Egypt's  most 
exposed  frontier  lies  on  the  north-west.  In  con- 
quering the  Sudan  at  the  end  of  the  nineteenth 
century  the  Egyptians  were  but  fulfilling  their 
destiny :  it  was  a  mere  accident  that  their  arms 
were  directed  against  a  Mahdi.  In  discussing 
seriously  the  situation  in  the  western  oases,  they 
are  working  upon  the  precise  rules  laid  down  by 
history.  And  if  their  attention  is  not  turned  in 
the  far  future  to  Syria,  they  will  be  defying  rules 
even  more  precise,  and,  in  the  opinion  of  those 
who  have  the  whole  course  of  Egyptian  history 
spread  before  them,  will  but  be  kicking  against 
the  pricks.  Here  surely  we  have  an  example  of 
the  value  of  the  study  of  a  nation's  history,  which 
is  not  more  nor  less  than  a  study  of  its  political 
tendencies. 

Speaking  of  the  relationship  of  history  to  poli- 
tics, Sir  J.  Seeley  wrote:  "I  tell  you  that  when 
you  study  English  history,  you  study  not  the  past 
of  England  only  but  her  future.  It  is  the  welfare 
of  your  country,  it  is  your  whole  interest  as  citi- 
zens, that  is  in  question  when  you  study  history." 


The  Egyptian  Empire.  53 


These  words  hold  good  when  we  deal  with  Egyp- 
tian history,  and  it  is  our  business  to  learn  the 
political  lessons  which  the  Egyptologist  can  teach 
us,  rather  than  to  listen  to  his  dissertations  upon 
scarabs  and  blue  glaze.  Like  the  astronomers  of 
old,  the  Egyptologist  studies,  as  it  were,  the  stars, 
and  reads  the  future  in  them ;  but  it  is  not  the 
fashion  for  kings  to  wait  upon  his  pronouncements 
any  more !  Indeed  he  reckons  in  such  very  long 
periods  of  time,  and  makes  startling  statements 
about  events  which  probably  will  not  occur  for 
very  many  years  to  come,  that  the  statesman, 
intent  upon  his  task,  has  some  reason  to  declare 
that  the  study  of  past  ages  does  not  assist  him 
to  deal  with  urgent  affairs.  Nevertheless,  in  all 
seriousness,  the  Egyptologist's  study  is  to  be  con- 
sidered as  but  another  aspect  of  statecraft,  and  he 
fails  in  his  labours  if  he  does  not  make  this  his 
point  of  view. 

In  his  arrogant  manner  the  Egyptologist  will 
remark  that  modern  politics  are  of  too  fleeting  a 
nature  to  interest  hiia  In  answer,  I  would  tell 
him  that  if  he  sits  studying  his  papyri  and  his 
mummies  without  regard  for  the  fact  that  he  is 
dealing  with  a  nation  still  alive,  still  contributing 
its  strength  to  spin  the  wheel  of  the  world  around, 
then  are  his  labours  worthless  and  his  brains  mis- 
used. I  would  tell  him  that  if  his  work  is  paid 
for,  then  is  he  a  robber  if  he  gives  no  return  in 
information  which  will  be  of  practical  service  to 
Egypt  in  some  way  or  another.    The  Egyptian 


54        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


Government  spends  enormous  sums  each  year 
upon  the  preservation  of  the  magnificent  relics 
of  bygone  ages — relics  for  which,  I  regret  to  say, 
the  Egyptians  themselves  care  extremely  little. 
Is  this  money  spent,  then,  to  amuse  the  tourist  in 
the  land,  or  simply  to  fulfil  obligations  to  ethical 
susceptibilities  ?  No  ;  there  is  %ut  one  justifica- 
tion for  this  very  necessary  expenditure  of  public 
money — namely,  that  these  relics  are  regarded,  so 
to  speak,  as  the  school-books  of  the  nation,  which 
range  over  a  series  of  subjects  from  pottery-mak- 
ing to  politics,  from  stone- cutting  to  statecraft. 
The  future  of  Egypt  may  be  read  upon  the  walls 
of  her  ancient  temples  and  tombs.  Let  the 
Egyptologist  never  forget,  in  the  interest  and 
excitement  of  his  discoveries,  what  is  the  real 
object  of  his  work. 


55 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  NECESSITY  OF  ARCHAEOLOGY  TO  THE 
GAIETY  OF  THE  WORLD. 

When  a  great  man  puts  a  period  to  his  existence 
upon  earth  by  dying,  he  is  carefully  buried  in  a 
tomb,  and  a  monument  is  set  up  to  his  glory  in 
the  neighbouring  church.  He  may  then  be  said 
to  begin  his  second  life,  his  life  in  the  memory  of 
the  chronicler  and  historian.  After  the  lapse  of 
an  aeon  or  two  the  works  of  the  historian,  and  per- 
chance the  tomb  itself,  are  rediscovered ;  and  the 
great  man  begins  his  third  life,  now  as  a  subject 
of  discussion  and  controversy  amongst  archaeolo- 
gists in  the  pages  of  a  scientific  journal.  It  may 
be  supposed  that  the  spirit  of  the  great  man,  not 
a  little  pleased  with  its  second  life,  has  an  extreme 
distaste  for  his  third.  There  is  a  dead  atmosphere 
about  it  which  sets  him  yawning  as  only  his  grave 
yawned  before.  The  charm  has  been  taken  from 
his  deeds ;  there  is  no  longer  any  spring  in  them. 
He  must  feel  towards  the  archaeologist  much  as  a 
young  man  feels  towards  his  cold-blooded  parent 
by  whom  his  love  affair  has  just  been  found  out. 


56        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


The  public,  too,  if  by  chance  it  comes  upon  this 
archaeological  journal,  finds  the  discussion  nothing 
more  than  a  mental  gymnastic,  which,  as  the 
reader  drops  off  to  sleep,  gives  him  the  impression 
that  the  writer  is  a  man  of  profound  brain  capacity, 
but,  like  the  remains  of  the  great  man  of  olden 
times,  as  dry  as  dust. 

There  is  one  thing,  however,  which  has  been 
overlooked.  This  scientific  journal  does  not  con- 
tain the  ultimate  results  of  the  archaeologist's 
researches.  It  contains  the  researches  themselves. 
The  public,  so  to  speak,  has  been  listening  to  the 
pianist  playing  his  morning  scales,  has  been 
watching  the  artist  mixing  his  colours,  has  been 
examining  the  unshaped  block  of  marble  and  the 
chisels  in  the  sculptors  studio.  It  must  be  con- 
fessed, of  course,  that  the  archaeologist  has  so 
enjoyed  his  researches  that  often  the  ultimate 
result  has  been  overlooked  by  him.  In  the  case  of 
Egyptian  archaeology,  for  example,  there  are  only 
two  Egyptologists  who  have  ever  set  themselves  to 
write  a  readable  history,1  whereas  the  number  of 
books  which  record  the  facts  of  the  science  is  legion. 

The  archaeologist  not  infrequently  lives,  for  a 
large  part  of  his  time,  in  a  museum,  a  somewhat 
dismal  place.  He  is  surrounded  by  rotting  tapes- 
tries, decaying  bones,  crumbling  stones,  and  rusted 
or  corroded  metal  objects.  His  indoor  work  has 
paled  his  cheek,  and  his  muscles  are  not  like  i$on 
bands.    He  stands,  often,  in  the  contiguity  to  & 

1  Professor  J.  H.  Breasted  and  Sir  Gaston  Maspero. 


Necessity  of  Archaeology  to  the  World.  57 


ancient  broadsword  most  fitted  to  demonstrate  the 
fact  that  he  could  never  use  it.  He  would  prob- 
ably be  dismissed  his  curatorship  were  he  to  tell  of 
any  dreams  which  might  run  in  his  head — dreams 
of  the  time  when  those  tapestries  hung  upon  the 
walls  of  barons'  banquet-halls,  or  when  those  stones 
rose  high  above  the  streets  of  Camelot. 

Moreover,  those  who  make  researches  independ- 
ently must  needs  contribute  their  results  to  scien- 
tific journals,  written  in  the  jargon  of  the  learned. 
I  came  across  a  now  forgotten  journal,  a  short  time 
ago,  in  which  an  English  gentleman,  believing 
that  he  had  made  a  discovery  in  the  province  of 
Egyptian  hieroglyphs,  announced  it  in  ancient 
Greek.  There  would  be  no  supply  of  such  pedantic 
swagger  were  there  not  a  demand  for  it. 

Small  wonder,  then,  that  the  archaeologist  is 
often  represented  as  partaking  somewhat  of  the 
quality  of  the  dust  amidst  which  he  works.  It  is 
not  necessary  here  to  discuss  whether  this  estimate 
is  just  or  not :  I  wish  only  to  point  out  its  para- 
doxical nature. 

More  than  any  other  science,  archaeology  might 
be  expected  to  supply  its  exponents  with  stuff 
^iat,  like  old  wine,  would  fire  the  blood  and 
stimulate  the  senses.  The  stirring  events  of  the 
Past  must  often  be  reconstructed  by  the  archaeolo- 
gist with  such  precision  that  his  prejudices  are 
aroused,  and  his  sympathies  are  so  enlisted  as  to 
set  him  fighting  with  a  will  under  this  banner  or 
under  that.  The  noise  of  the  hardy  strife  of  young 


58        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


nations  is  not  yet  silenced  for  him,  nor  have  the 
flags  and  the  pennants  faded  from  sight.  He  has 
knowledge  of  the  state  secrets  of  kings,  and,  all 
along  the  line,  is  an  intimate  spectator  of  the 
crowded  pageant  of  history.  The  caravan-masters 
of  the  elder  days,  the  admirals  of  the  "  great  green 
sea,"  the  captains  of  archers,  have  related  their 
adventures  to  him ;  and  he  might  repeat  to  you 
their  stories.  Indeed,  he  has  such  a  tale  to  tell 
that,  looking  at  it  in  this  light,  one  might  expect 
his  listeners  all  to  be  good  fighting  men  and  noble 
women.  It  might  be  supposed  that  the  archaeolo- 
gist would  gather  around  him  only  men  who  have 
pleasure  in  the  road  that  leads  over  the  hills,  and 
women  who  have  known  the  delight  of  the  open. 
One  has  heard  so  often  of  the  "  brave  days  of  old  " 
that  the  archaeologist  might  well  be  expected  to 
have  his  head  stuffed  with  brave  tales  and  little 
else. 

His  range,  however,  may  be  wider  than  this.  To 
him,  perhaps,  it  has  been  given  to  listen  to  the  voice 
of  the  ancient  poet,  heard  as  a  far-off  whisper  ;  to 
breathe  in  forgotten  gardens  the  perfume  of  long 
dead  flowers ;  to  contemplate  the  love  of  women 
whose  beauty  is  all  perished  in  the  dust;  to  hearken 
to  the  sound  of  the  harp  and  the  sistra,  to  be  the 
possessor  of  the  riches  of  historical  romance.  Dim 
armies  have  battled  around  him  for  the  love  of 
Helen ;  shadowy  captains  of  sea-going  ships  have 
sung  to  him  through  the  storm  the  song  of  the 
sweethearts  left  behind  them  ;  he  has  feasted  with 


Necessity  of  Archaeology  to  the  World.  59 


sultans,  and  kings'  goblets  have  been  held  to  his 
lips  ;  he  has  watched  Uriah  the  Hittite  sent  to  the 
forefront  of  the  battle. 

Thus,  were  he  to  offer  a  story,  one  might  now 
suppose  that  there  would  gather  around  him,  not 
the  men  of  muscle,  but  a  throng  of  sallow  listeners, 
as  improperly  expectant  as  were  those  who  heark- 
ened under  the  moon  to  the  narrations  of  Boccaccio, 
or,  in  old  Baghdad,  gave  ear  to  the  tales  of  the 
thousand  and  one  nights.  One  might  suppose 
that  his  audience  would  be  drawn  from  those 
classes  most  fondly  addicted  to  pleasure,  or  most 
nearly  representative,  in  their  land  and  in  their 
time,  of  the  light-hearted  and  not  unwanton  races 
of  whom  he  had  to  tell.  For  his  story  might  be 
expected  to  be  one  wherein  wine  and  women  and 
song  found  countenance.  Even  were  he  to  tell  of 
ancient  tragedies  and  old  sorrows,  he  would  still 
make  his  appeal,  one  might  suppose,  to  gallants 
and  their  mistresses,  to  sporting  men  and  women 
of  fashion,  just  as,  in  the  mournful  song  of  Bosa- 
belle,  Sir  Walter  Scott  is  able  to  address  himself 
to  the  "  ladies  gay,"  or  Coleridge  in  his  sad  "  Ballad 
of  the  Dark  Ladie"  to  "  fair  maids." 

Who  could  better  arrest  the  attention  of  the 
coxcomb  than  the  archaeologist  who  has  knowledge 
of  silks  and  scents  now  lost  to  the  living  world  ? 
To  the  gourmet  who  could  more  appeal  than  the 
archaeologist  who  has  made  abundant  acquaintance 
with  the  forgotten  dishes  of  the  East  ?  Who  could 
so  surely  thrill  the  senses  of  the  courtesan  than  the 


6o        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


archaeologist  who  can  relate  that  which  was  whis- 
pered by  Anthony  in  the  ear  of  Cleopatra  ?  To 
the  gambler  who  could  be  more  enticing  than  the 
archaeologist  who  has  seen  kings  play  at  dice  for 
their  kingdoms?  The  imaginative,  truly,  might 
well  collect  the  most  highly  disreputable  audience 
to  listen  to  the  tales  of  the  archaeologist. 

But  no,  these  are  not  the  people  who  are  anxi- 
ous to  catch  the  pearls  which  drop  from  his  mouth. 
Do  statesmen  and  diplomatists,  then,  listen  to  him 
who  can  unravel  for  them  the  policies  of  the  Past  ? 
Do  business  men  hasten  from  Threadneedle  Street 
and  Wall  Street  to  sit  at  his  feet,  that  they  may 
have  instilled  into  them  a  little  of  the  romance  of 
ancient  money  ?    I  fear  not. 

Come  with  me  to  some  provincial  town,  where 
this  day  Professor  Blank  is  to  deliver  one  of  his 
archaeological  lectures  at  the  Town  Hall.  We 
are  met  at  the  door  by  the  secretary  of  the 
local  archaeological  society  :  a  melancholy  lady  in 
green  plush,  who  suffers  from  St  Vitus's  dance. 
Gloomily  we  enter  the  hall  and  silently  accept  the 
seats  which  are  indicated  to  us  by  an  unfortunate 
gentleman  with  a  club-foot.  In  front  of  us  an 
elderly  female  with  short  hair  is  chatting  to  a  very 
plain  young  woman  draped  like  a  lay  figure.  On 
the  right  an  emaciated  man  with  a  very  bad  cough 
shuffles  on  his  chair  ;  on  the  left  two  old  grey- 
beards grumble  to  one  another  about  the  weather, 
a  subject  which  leads  up  to  the  familiar  "  Mine 
catches  me  in  the  small  of  the  back " ;  while 


Necessity  of  Archaeology  to  the  World.  61 


behind  us  the  inevitable  curate,  of  whose  appear- 
ance it  would  be  trite  to  speak,  describes  to  an 
astonished  old  lady  the  recent  discovery  of  the 
pelvis  of  a  mastodon. 

The  professor  and  the  aged  chairman  step  on  to 
the  platform  ;  and,  amidst  the  profoundest  gloom, 
the  latter  rises  to  pronounce  the  prefatory  rigma- 
role. "  Archaeology,"  he  says,  in  a  voice  of  brass, 
"  is  a  science  which  bars  its  doors  to  all  but  the 
most  erudite  ;  for,  to  the  layman  who  has  not  been 
vouchsafed  the  opportunity  of  studying  the  dusty 
volumes  of  the  learned,  the  bones  of  the  dead  will 
not  reveal  their  secrets,  nor  will  the  crumbling 
pediments  of  naos  and  cenotaph,  the  obliterated 
tombstones,  or  the  worm-eaten  parchments,  tell 
us  their  story.  To-night,  however,  we  are  privi- 
leged ;  for  Professor  Blank  will  open  the  doors  for 
us  that  we  may  gaze  for  a  moment  upon  that 
solemn  charnel  -  house  of  the  Past  in  which  he 
has  sat  for  so  many  long  hours  of  inductive 
meditation." 

And  the  professor  by  his  side,  whose  head,  per- 
haps, was  filled  with  the  martial  music  of  the  long- 
lost  hosts  of  the  Lord,  or  before  whose  eyes  there 
swayed  the  entrancing  forms  of  the  dancing-girls 
of  Babylon,  stares  horrified  from  chairman  to 
audience.  He  sees  crabbed  old  men  and  barren 
old  women  before  him,  afflicted  youths  and  fatuous 
maidens  ;  and  he  realises  at  once  that  the  golden 
keys  which  he  possesses  to  the  gates  of  the  treas- 
ury of  the  jewelled  Past  will  not  open  the  doors  of 


62        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


that  charnel-house  which  they  desire  to  be  shown. 
The  scent  of  the  king's  roses  fades  from  his  nostrils, 
the  Egyptian  music  which  throbbed  in  his  ears  is 
hushed,  the  glorious  illumination  of  the  Palace  of 
a  Thousand  Columns  is  extinguished  ;  and  in  the 
gathering  gloom  we  leave  him  fumbling  with  a 
rusty  key  at  the  mildewed  door  of  the  Place  of 
Bones. 

Why  is  it,  one  asks,  that  archaeology  is  a  thing 
so  misunderstood  ?  Can  it  be  that  both  lecturer 
and  audience  have  crushed  down  that  which  was 
in  reality  uppermost  in  their  minds  :  that  a  shy 
search  for  romance  has  led  these  people  to  the 
Town  Hall  ?  Or  perchance  archaeology  has  become 
to  them  something  not  unlike  a  vice,  and  to  listen 
to  an  archaeological  lecture  is  their  remaining 
chance  of  being  naughty.  It  may  be  that,  having 
one  foot  in  the  grave,  they  take  pleasure  in  kick- 
ing the  moss  from  the  surrounding  tombstones 
with  the  other ;  or  that,  being  denied,  for  one 
reason  or  another,  the  jovial  society  of  the  living, 
like  Robert  Southey's  "  Scholar  "  their  hopes  are 
with  the  dead. 

Be  the  explanation  what  it  may,  the  fact  is 
indisputable  that  archaeology  is  patronised  by 
those  who  know  not  its  real  meaning.  A  man 
has  no  more  right  to  think  of  the  people  of  old 
as  dust  and  dead  bones  than  he  has  to  think  of 
his  contemporaries  as  lumps  of  meat.  The  true 
archaeologist  does  not  take  pleasure  in  skeletons 
as  skeletons,  for  his  whole  effort  is  to  cover  them 


[Photo  by  E.  Brugsch  Pasha. 

A  relief  upon  the  side  of  the  sarcophagus  of  one  of  the  wives  of  King 
Mentuhotep  III.,  discovered  at  Der  el  Bahri  (Thebes).  The  royal 
lady  is  taking  sweet-smelling  ointment  from  an  alabaster  vase.  A 
handmaiden  keeps  the  flies  away  with  a  bird's-wing  fan.— Cairo 
Museum, 


Pl.  vi. 


Necessity  of  Archaeology  to  the  World.  63 


decently  with  flesh  and  skin  once  more,  and  to 
put  some  thoughts  back  into  the  empty  skulls. 
He  sets  himself  to  hide  again  the  things  which 
he  would  not  intentionally  lay  bare.  Nor  does  he 
delight  in  ruined  buildings  :  rather  he  deplores 
that  they  are  ruined.  Coleridge  wrote  like  the 
true  archaeologist  when  he  composed  that  most 
magical  poem  "  Khubla  Khan  " — 

■  In  Xanadu  did  Khubla  Khan 
A  stately  pleasure-dome  decree : 
Where  Alph,  the  sacred  river,  ran 
Through  caverns  measureless  to  man 
Down  to  a  sunless  sea." 

And  those  who  would  have  the  pleasure -domes 
of  the  gorgeous  Past  reconstructed  for  them  must 
turn  to  the  archaeologist ;  those  who  would  see 
the  damsel  with  the  dulcimer  in  the  gardens  of 
Xanadu  must  ask  of  him  the  secret,  and  of  none 
other.  It  is  true  that,  before  he  can  refashion 
the  dome  or  the  damsel,  he  will  have  to  grub  his 
way  through  old  refuse  heaps  till  he  shall  lay  bare 
the  ruins  of  the  walls  and  expose  the  bones  of 
the  lady.  But  this  is  the  "  dirty  work"  ;  and  the 
mistake  which  is  made  lies  here :  that  this  pre- 
liminary dirty  work  is  confused  with  the  final 
clean  result.  An  artist  will  sometimes  build  up 
his  picture  of  Venus  from  a  skeleton  bought  from 
an  old  Jew  round  the  corner ;  and  the  smooth 
white  paper  which  he  uses  will  have  been  made 
from  putrid  rags  and  bones.  Amongst  painters 
themselves  these  facts  are  not  hidden,  but  by 


64        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


the  public  they  are  most  carefully  obscured.  In 
the  case  of  archaeology,  however,  the  tedious 
details  of  construction  are  so  placed  in  the  fore- 
ground that  the  final  picture  is  hardly  noticed 
at  all.  As  well  might  one  go  to  Rheims  to  see 
men  fly,  and  be  shown  nothing  else  but  screws 
and  nuts,  steel  rods  and  cog-wheels.  Originally 
the  fault,  perhaps,  lay  with  the  archaeologist ;  now 
it  lies  both  with  him  and  with  the  public.  The 
public  has  learnt  to  ask  to  be  shown  the  works, 
and  the  archaeologist  is  often  so  proud  of  them 
that  he  forgets  to  mention  the  purpose  of  the 
machine. 

A  Roman  statue  of  bronze,  let  us  suppose,  is 
discovered  in  the  Thames  valley.  It  is  so  cor- 
roded and  eaten  away  that  only  an  expert  could 
recognise  that  it  represents  a  reclining  goddess. 
In  this  condition  it  is  placed  in  the  museum,  and 
a  photograph  of  it  [is  published  in  '  The  Graphic' 
Those  who  come  to  look  at  it  in  its  glass  case 
think  it  is  a  bunch  of  grapes,  or  possibly  a 
monkey ;  those  who  see  its  photograph  say  that 
it  is  more  probably  an  irregular  catapult-stone  or 
a  fish  in  convulsions. 

The  archaeologist  alone  holds  its  secret,  and 
only  he  can  see  it  as  it  was.  He  alone  can 
know  the  mind  of  the  artist  who  made  it,  or 
interpret  the  full  meaning  of  the  conception.  It 
might  have  been  expected,  then,  that  the  public 
would  demand,  and  the  archaeologist  delightedly 
furnish,  a  model  of  the  figure  as  near  to  the 


Necessity  of  Archaeology  to  the  World.  65 


original  as  possible ;  or,  failing  that,  a  restoration 
in  drawing,  or  even  a  worded  description  of  its 
original  beauty.  But  no  :  the  public,  if  it  wants 
anything,  wants  to  see  the  shapeless  object  in 
all  its  corrosion ;  and  the  archaeologist  forgets 
that  it  is  blind  to  aught  else  but  that  corrosion. 
One  of  the  main  duties  of  the  archaeologist  is 
thus  lost  sight  of :  his  duty  as  Interpreter  and 
Remembrancer  of  the  Past. 

All  the  riches  of  olden  times,  all  the  majesty, 
all  the  power,  are  the  inheritance  of  the  present 
day ;  and  the  archaeologist  is  the  recorder  of  this 
fortune.  He  must  deal  in  dead  bones  only  so  far 
as  the  keeper  of  a  financial  fortune  must  deal  in 
dry  documents.  Behind  those  documents  glitters 
the  gold,  and  behind  those  bones  shines  the 
wonder  of  the  things  that  were.  And  when  an 
object  once  beautiful  has  by  age  become  unsightly, 
one  might  suppose  that  he  would  wish  to  show 
it  to  none  save  his  colleagues  or  the  reasonably 
curious  layman.  When  a  man  makes  the  state- 
ment that  his  grandmother,  now  in  her  ninety- 
ninth  year,  was  once  a  beautiful  woman,  he  does 
not  go  and  find  her  to  prove  his  words  and 
bring  her  tottering  into  the  room :  he  shows  a 
picture  of  her  as  she  was ;  or,  if  he  cannot 
find  one,  he  describes  what  good  evidence  tells 
him  was  her  probable  appearance.  In  allow- 
ing his  controlled  and  sober  imagination  thus 
to  perform  its  natural  functions,  though  it  would 
never  do   to   tell   his  grandmother  so,  he  be- 

E 


66        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


comes  an  archaeologist,  a  remembrancer  of  the 
Past. 

In  the  case  of  archaeology,  however,  the  public 
does  not  permit  itself  so  to  be  convinced.  In  the 
Ashmolean  Museum  at  Oxford  excellent  facsimile 
electrotypes  of  early  Greek  weapons  are  exhibited; 
and  these  have  far  more  value  in  bringing  the 
Past  before  us  than  the  actual  weapons  of  that 
period,  corroded  and  broken,  would  have.  But 
the  visitor  says,  "These  are  shams,"  and  passes  on. 

It  will  be  seen,  then,  that  the  business  of 
archaeology  is  often  misunderstood  both  by  archae- 
ologists and  by  the  public ;  and  that  there  is 
really  no  reason  to  believe,  with  Thomas  Earle, 
that  the  real  antiquarian  loves  a  thing  the 
better  for  that  it  is  rotten  and  stinketh.  That 
the  impression  has  gone  about  is  his  own  fault, 
for  he  has  exposed  too  much  to  view  the  mechan- 
ism of  his  work ;  but  it  is  also  the  fault  of  the 
public  for  not  asking  of  him  a  picture  of  things 
as  they  were. 

Man  is  by  nature  a  creature  of  the  present. 
It  is  only  by  an  effort  that  he  can  consider  the 
future,  and  it  is  often  quite  impossible  for  him 
to  give  any  heed  at  all  to  the  Past.  The  days 
of  old  are  so  blurred  and  remote  that  it  seems 
right  to  him  that  any  relic  from  them  should, 
by  the  maltreatment  of  Time,  be  unrecognisable. 
The  finding  of  an  old  sword,  half-eaten  by  rust, 
will  only  please  him  in  so  far  as  it  shows  him 
once  more  by  its  sad  condition  the  great  gap 


Necessity  of  Archaeology  to  the  World.  67 


between  those  days  and  these,  and  convinces  him 
again  of  the  sole  importance  of  the  present.  The 
archaeologist,  he  will  tell  you,  is  a  fool  if  he 
expects  him  to  be  interested  in  a  wretched  old 
bit  of  scrap-iron.  He  is  right.  It  would  be  as 
rash  to  suppose  that  he  would  find  interest  in 
an  ancient  sword  in  its  rusted  condition  as  it 
would  be  to  expect  the  spectator  at  Rheims  to 
find  fascination  in  the  nuts  and  screws.  The 
true  archaeologist  would  hide  that  corroded  weapon 
in  his  workshop,  where  his  fellow-workers  alone 
could  see  it.  For  he  recognises  that  it  is  only 
the  sword  which  is  as  good  as  new  that  im- 
presses the  public;  it  is  only  the  Present  that 
counts.  That  is  the  real  reason  why  he  is  an 
archaeologist.  He  has  turned  to  the  Past  because 
he  is  in  love  with  the  Present.  He,  more  than 
any  man,  worships  at  the  altar  of  the  goddess 
of  To-day;  and  he  is  so  desirous  of  extending 
her  dominion  that  he  has  adventured,  like  a 
crusader,  into  the  lands  of  the  Past  in  order  to 
subject  them  to  her.  Adoring  the  Now,  he  would 
resent  the  publicity  of  anything  which  so  obviously 
suggested  the  Then  as  a  rust  -  eaten  old  blade. 
His  whole  business  is  to  hide  the  gap  between 
Yesterday  and  To  -  day ;  and,  unless  a  man  is 
initiate,  he  would  have  him  either  see  the  perfect 
sword  as  it  was  when  it  sought  the  foeman's 
bowels,  or  see  nothing.  The  Present  is  too  small 
for  him ;  and  it  is  therefore  that  he  calls  so 
insistently  to  the  Past  to  come  forth  from  the 


68        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


darkness  to  augment  it.  The  ordinary  man  lives 
in  the  -Present,  and  he  will  tell  one  that  the 
archaeologist  lives  in  the  Past.  This  is  not  so. 
The  layman,  in  the  manner  of  the  Little  Eng- 
lander,  lives  in  a  small  and  confined  Present ; 
but  the  archaeologist,  like  a  true  Imperialist, 
ranges  through  all  time,  and  calls  it  not  the 
Past  but  the  Greater  Present. 

The  archaeologist  is  not,  or  ought  not  to  be, 
lacking  in  vivacity.  One  might  say  that  he  is 
so  sensible  to  the  charms  of  society  that,  finding 
his  companions  too  few  in  number,  he  has  drawn 
the  olden  times  to  him  to  search  them  for  jovial 
men  and  agreeable  women.  It  might  be  added 
that  he  has  so  laughed  at  jest  and  joke  that, 
fearing  lest  the  funds  of  humour  run  dry,  he  has 
gathered  the  laughter  of  all  the  years  to  his 
enrichment.  Certainly  he  has  so  delighted  in 
noble  adventure  and  stirring  action  that  he  finds 
his  newspaper  insufficient  to  his  needs,  and  fetches 
to  his  aid  the  tales  of  old  heroes.  In  fact,  the 
archaeologist  is  so  enamoured  of  life  that  he  would 
raise  all  the  dead  from  their  graves.  He  will  not 
have  it  that  the  men  of  old  are  dust :  he  would 
bring  them  to  him  to  share  with  him  the  sun- 
light which  he  finds  so  precious.  He  is  so  much 
an  enemy  of  Death  and  Decay  that  he  would 
rob  them  of  their  harvest ;  and,  for  every  life 
that  the  foe  has  claimed,  he  would  raise  up,  if 
he  could,  a  memory  that  would  continue  to  live. 

The  meaning  of  the  heading  which  has  been 


Necessity  of  Archaeology  to  the  World.  69 


given  to  this  chapter  is  now  becoming  clear,  and 
the  direction  of  the  argument  is  already  apparent. 
So  far  it  has  been  my  purpose  to  show  that  the 
archaeologist  is  not  a  rag-and-bone  man,  though 
the  public  generally  thinks  he  is,  and  he  often 
thinks  he  is  himself.  The  attempt  has  been  made 
to  suggest  that  archaeology  ought  not  to  consist 
in  sitting  in  a  charnel-house  amongst  the  dead, 
but  rather  in  ignoring  that  place  and  taking  the 
bones  into  the  light  of  day,  decently  clad  in  flesh 
and  finery.  It  has  now  to  be  shown  m  what 
manner  this  parading  of  the  Past  is  needful  to 
the  gaiety  of  the  Present. 

Amongst  cultured  people  whose  social  position 
makes  it  difficult  for  them  to  dance  in  circles  on 
the  grass  in  order  to  express  or  to  stimulate  their 
gaiety,  and  whose  school  of  deportment  will  not 
permit  them  to  sing  a  merry  song  of  sixpence 
as  they  trip  down  the  streets,  there  is  some 
danger  of  the  fire  of  merriment  dying  for  want 
of  fuel.  Vivacity  in  printed  books,  therefore,  has 
been  encouraged,  so  that  the  mind  at  least,  if 
not  the  body,  may  skip  about  and  clap  its  hands. 
A  portly  gentleman  with  a  solemn  face,  reading 
his  *  Punch '  in  the  club,  is,  after  all,  giving  play 
to  precisely  those  same  humours  which  in  ancient 
days  might  have  led  him,  like  Georgy  Porgy,  to 
kiss  the  girls  or  to  perform  any  other  merry  joke. 
It  is  necessary,  therefore,  ever  to  enlarge  the 
stock  of  things  humorous,  vivacious,  or  rousing, 
if  thoughts  are  to   be   kept   young  and  eyes 


70        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


bright  in  this  age  of  restraint.  What  would 
Yuletide  be  without  the  olden  times  to  bolster 
it?  What  would  the  Christmas  numbers  do 
without  the  pictures  of  our  great-grandparents' 
coaches  snow-bound,  of  huntsmen  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  of  jesters  at  the  courts  of  the  barons? 
What  should  we  do  without  the  1  Vicar  of  Wake- 
field/ the  '  Compleat  Angler,'  1  Pepys'  Diary,'  and 
all  the  rest  of  the  ancient  books?  And,  going 
back  a  few  centuries,  what  an  amount  we  should 
miss  had  we  not  '^Esop's  Fables,'  the  c  Odyssey,' 
the  tales  of  the  Trojan  War,  and  so  on.  It  is 
from  the  archaeologist  that  one  must  expect  the 
augmentation  of  this  supply ;  and  just  in  that 
degree  in  which  the  existing  supply  is  really  a 
necessary  part  of  our  equipment,  so  archaeology, 
which  looks  for  more,  is  necessary  to  our  gaiety. 

In  order  to  keep  his  intellect  undulled  by  the 
routine  of  his  dreary  work,  Matthew  Arnold  was 
wont  to  write  a  few  lines  of  poetry  each  day. 
Poetry,  like  music  and  song,  is  an  effective  dis- 
peller  of  care  ;  and  those  who  find  Omar  Khayyam 
or  "In  Memoriam "  incapable  of  removing  the 
burden  of  their  woes,  will  no  doubt  appreciate 
the  "  Owl  and  the  Pussy-cat,"  or  the  Bab  Ballads. 
In  some  form  or  other  verse  and  song  are  closely 
linked  with  happiness ;  and  a  ditty  from  any  age 
has  its  interest  and  its  charm. 

"  She  gazes  at  the  stars  above : 
I  would  I  were  the  skies, 
That  I  might  gaze  upon  my  love 
With  such  a  thousand  eyes  ! " 


Necessity  of  Archaeology  to  the  World.  71 


That  is  probably  from  the  Greek  of  Plato,  a 
writer  who  is  not  much  read  by  the  public  at 
large,  and  whose  works  are  the  legitimate  property 
of  the  antiquarian.  It  suffices  to  show  that  it  is 
not  only  to  the  moderns  that  we  have  to  look 
for  dainty  verse  that  is  conducive  to  a  light 
heart.  The  following  lines  are  from  the  ancient 
Egyptian  : — 

■  While  in  my  room  I  lie  all  day 
In  pain  that  will  not  pass  away, 

The  neighbours  come  and  go. 
Ah,  if  with  them  my  darling  came 
The  doctors  would  be  put  to  shame : 

She  understands  my  woe." 

Such  examples  might  be  multiplied  indefinitely ; 
and  the  reader  will  admit  that  there  is  as  much 
of  a  lilt  about  those  which  are  here  quoted  as  there 
is  about  the  majority  of  the  ditties  which  he  has 
hummed  to  himself  in  his  hour  of  contentment. 
Here  is  Philodemus'  description  of  his  mistress's 
charms  : — 

M  My  lady-love  is  small  and  brown ; 
My  lady's  skin  is  soft  as  down ; 
Her  hair  like  parseley  twists  and  turns ; 
Her  voice  with  magic  passion  burns.  .  .  * 

And  here  is  an  ancient  Egyptian's  description  of 
not  very  dissimilar  phenomena  : — 

"  A  damsel  sweet  unto  the  sight, 

A  maid  of  whom  no  like  there  is ; 
Black  are  her  tresses  as  the  night, 
And  blacker  than  the  blackberries." 

Does  not  the  archaeologist  perform  a  service 


72        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


to  his  contemporaries  by  searching  out  such 
rhymes  and  delving  for  more  ?  They  bring  with 
them,  moreover,  so  subtle  a  suggestion  of  bygone 
romance,  they  are  backed  by  so  fair  a  scene  01 
Athenian  luxury  or  Theban  splendour,  that  they 
possess  a  charm  not  often  felt  in  modern  verse. 
If  it  is  argued  that  there  is  no  need  to  increase 
the  present  supply  of  such  ditties,  since  they  are 
really  quite  unessential  to  our  gaiety,  the  answer 
may  be  given  that  no  nation  and  no  period  has 
ever  found  them  unessential ;  and  a  light  heart 
has  been  expressed  in  this  manner  since  man  came 
down  from  the  trees. 

Let  us  turn  now  to  another  consideration.  For 
a  man  to  be  light  of  heart  he  must  have  confi- 
dence in  humanity.  He  cannot  greet  the  morn 
with  a  smiling  countenance  if  he  believes  that 
he  and  his  fellows  are  slipping  down  the  broad 
path  which  leads  to  destruction.  The  archaeologist 
never  despairs  of  mankind ;  for  he  has  seen  nations 
rise  and  fall  till  he  is  almost  giddy,  but  he  knows 
that  there  has  never  been  a  general  deterioration. 
He  realises  that  though  a  great  nation  may  suffer 
defeat  and  annihilation,  it  is  possible  for  it  to  go 
down  in  such  a  thunder  that  the  talk  of  it 
stimulates  other  nations  for  all  time.  He  sees, 
if  any  man  can,  that  all  things  work  together  for 
happiness.  He  has  observed  the  cycle  of  events, 
the  good  years  and  the  bad  ;  and  in  an  evil  time 
he  is  comforted  by  the  knowledge  that  the  good 
will  presently  roll  round  again.    Thus  the  lesson 


Necessity  of  Archaeology  to  the  World.  73 


which  he  can  teach  is  a  very  real  necessity  to 
that  contentment  of  mind  which  lies  at  the  root 
of  all  gaiety. 

Again,  a  man  cannot  be  permanently  happy 
unless  he  has  a  just  sense  of  proportion.  He 
who  is  too  big  for  his  boots  must  needs  limp ; 
and  he  who  has  a  swollen  head  is  in  perpetual 
discomfort.  The  history  of  the  lives  of  men,  the 
history  of  the  nations,  gives  one  a  fairer  sense 
of  proportion  than  does  almost  any  other  study. 
In  the  great  company  of  the  men  of  old  he  cannot 
fail  to  assess  his  true  value  :  if  he  has  any  conceit 
there  is  a  greater  than  he  to  snub  him  ;  if  he  has 
a  poor  opinion  of  his  powers  there  is  many  a  fool 
with  whom  to  contrast  himself  favourably.  If 
he  would  risk  his  fortune  on  the  spinning  of  a 
coin,  being  aware  of  the  prevalence  of  his  good- 
luck,  archaeology  will  tell  him  that  the  best  luck 
will  chauge  ;  or  if,  when  in  sore  straits,  he  asks 
whether  ever  a  man  was  so  unlucky,  archaeology 
will  answer  him  that  many  millions  of  men  have 
been  more  unfavoured  than  he.  Archaeology 
provides  a  precedent  for  almost  every  event  or 
occurrence  where  modern  inventions  are  not  in- 
volved ;  and,  in  this  manner,  one  may  reckon 
their  value  and  determine  their  trend.  Thus 
many  of  the  small  worries  which  cause  so  leaden 
a  weight  to  lie  upon  the  heart  and  mind  are  by 
the  archaeologist  ignored  ;  and  many  of  the  larger 
calamities  by  him  are  met  with  serenity. 

But  not  only  does  the  archaeologist  learn  to 


74        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


estimate  himself  and  his  actions  :  he  learns  also 
to  see  the  relationship  in  which  his  life  stands 
to  the  course  of  Time.  Without  archaeology  a 
man  may  be  disturbed  lest  the  world  be  about 
to  come  to  an  end :  after  a  study  of  history  he 
knows  that  it  has  only  just  begun ;  and  that 
gaiety  which  is  said  to  have  obtained  "  when  the 
world  was  young"  is  to  him,  therefore,  a  present 
condition.  By  studying  the  ages  the  archaeologist 
learns  to  reckon  in  units  of  a  thousand  years  ;  and 
it  is  onjy  then  that  that  little  unit  of  threescore- 
and-ten  falls  into  its  proper  proportion.  "  A 
thousand  ages  in  Thy  sight  are  like  an  evening 
gone,"  says  the  hymn,  but  it  is  only  the  archaeolo- 
gist who  knows  the  meaning  of  the  words ;  and 
it  is  only  he  who  can  explain  that  great  discrep- 
ancy in  the  Christian  faith  between  the  statement 
"  Behold,  I  come  quickly "  and  the  actual  fact. 
A  man  who  knows  where  he  is  in  regard  to  his 
fellows,  and  realises  where  he  stands  in  regard 
to  Time,  has  learnt  a  lesson  of  archaeology  which 
is  as  necessary  to  his  peace  of  mind  as  his  peace 
of  mind  is  necessary  to  his  gaiety. 

It  is  not  needful,  however,  to  continue  to  point 
out  the  many  ways  in  which  archaeology  may  be 
shown  to  be  necessary  to  happiness.  The  reader 
will  have  comprehended  the  trend  of  the  argu- 
ment, and,  if  he  be  in  sympathy  with  it,  he  will 
not  be  unwilling  to  develop  the  theme  for  him- 
self. Only  one  point,  therefore,  need  here  be  taken 
up.     It  has  been  reserved  to  the  end  of  this 


Necessity  of  Archaeology  to  the  World.  75 


chapter,  for,  by  its  nature,  it  closes  all  arguments. 
I  refer  to  Death. 

Death,  as  we  watch  it  around  us,  is  the  black 
menace  of  the  heavens  which  darkens  every  man's 
day ;  Death,  coming  to  our  neighbour,  puts  a 
period  to  our  merry-making  ;  Death,  seen  close 
beside  us,  calls  a  halt  in  our  march  of  pleasure. 
But  let  those  who  would  wrest  her  victory  from 
the  grave  turn  to  a  study  of  the  Past,  where 
all  is  dead  yet  still  lives,  and  they  will  find  that 
the  horror  of  life's  cessation  is  materially  lessened. 
To  those  who  are  familiar  with  the  course  of  his- 
tory, Death  seems,  to  some  extent,  but  the  happy 
solution  of  the  dilemma  of  life.  So  many  men 
have  welcomed  its  coming  that  one  begins  to  feel 
that  it  cannot  be  so  very  terrible.  Of  the  death 
of  a  certain  Pharaoh  an  ancient  Egyptian  wrote  : 
"  He  goes  to  heaven  like  the  hawks,  and  his 
feathers  are  like  those  of  the  geese ;  he  rushes 
at  heaven  like  a  crane,  he  kisses  heaven  like  the 
falcon,  he  leaps  to  heaven  like  the  locust'';  and 
we  who  read  these  words  can  feel  that  to  rush 
eagerly  at  heaven  like  the  crane  would  be  a 
mighty  fine  ending  of  the  pother.  Archaeology, 
and  especially  Egyptology,  in  this  respect  is  a 
bulwark  to  those  who  find  the  faith  of  their 
fathers  wavering ;  for,  after  much  study,  the 
triumphant  assertion  which  is  so  often  found  in 
Egyptian  tombs — "Thou  dost  not  come  dead  to 
thy  sepulchre,  thou  comest  living" — begins  to 
take  hold  of  the  imagination.     Death  has  been 


76        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


the  parent  of  so  much  goodness,  dying  men  have 
cut  such  a  dash,  that  one  looks  at  it  with  an 
awakening  interest.  Even  if  the  sense  of  the 
misfortune  of  death  is  uppermost  in  an  archaeolo- 
gist's mind,  he  may  find  not  a  little  comfort  in 
having  before  him  the  example  of  so  many  good 
men,  who,  in  their  hour,  have  faced  that  great 
calamity  with  squared  shoulders. 

"  When  Death  comes,"  says  a  certain  sage  of 
ancient  Egypt,  "  it  seizes  the  babe  that  is  on  the 
breast  of  its  mother  as  well  as  he  that  has  become 
an  old  man.  When  thy  messenger  comes  to  carry 
thee  away,  be  thou  found  by  him  ready.11  Why, 
here  is  our  chance ;  here  is  the  opportunity  for 
that  flourish  which  modesty,  throughout  our  life, 
has  forbidden  to  us!  John  Tiptoft,  Earl  of 
Worcester,  when  the  time  came  for  him  to  lay 
his  head  upon  the  block,  bade  the  executioner 
smite  it  off  with  three  strokes  as  a  courtesy  to 
the  Holy  Trinity.  King  Charles  the  Second,  as 
he  lay  upon  his  death -bed,  apologised  to  those 
who  stood  around  him  for  "  being  such  an  un- 
conscionable time  adying."  The  story  is  familiar 
of  Napoleon's  aide-de-camp,  who,  when  he  had 
been  asked  whether  he  were  wounded,  replied, 
"  Not  wounded :  killed,"  and  thereupon  expired. 
The  Past  is  full  of  such  incidents ;  and  so  inspiring 
are  they  that  Death  comes  to  be  regarded  as  a 
most  stirring  adventure.  The  archaeologist,  too, 
better  than  any  other,  knows  the  vastness  of  the 
dead  men's  majority ;  and  if,  like  the  ancients, 


Necessity  of  Archaeology  to  the  World.  77 


he  believes  in  the  Elysian  fields,  where  no  death 
is  and  decay  is  unknown,  he  alone  will  realise 
the  excellent  nature  of  the  company  into  which 
he  will  there  be  introduced. 

There  is,  however,  far  more  living  going  on  in 
the  world  than  dying  ;  and  there  is  more  happiness 
(thanks  be  !)  than  sorrow.  Thus  the  archaeologist 
has  a  great  deal  more  of  pleasure  than  of  pain 
to  give  to  us  for  our  enrichment.  The  reader 
will  here  enter  an  objection.  He  will  say  :  "  This 
may  be  true  of  archaeology  in  general,  but  in  the 
case  of  Egyptology,  with  which  we  are  here  mostly 
concerned,  he  surely  has  to  deal  with  a  sad  and 
solemn  people."  The  answer  will  be  found  in  the 
next  chapter.  No  nation  in  the  world's  history 
has  been  so  gay,  so  light-hearted  as  the  ancient 
Egyptians ;  and  Egyptology  furnishes,  perhaps, 
the  most  convincing  proof  that  archaeology  is,  or 
should  be,  a  merry  science,  very  necessary  to  the 
gaiety  of  the  world.  I  defy  a  man  suffering  from 
his  liver  to  understand  the  old  Egyptians ;  I  defy 
a  man  who  does  not  appreciate  the  pleasure  of 
life  to  make  anything  of  them.  Egyptian  archae- 
ology presents  a  pageant  of  such  brilliancy  that 
the  archaeologist  is  often  carried  along  by  it  as 
in  a  dream,  down  the  valley  and  over  the  hills, 
till,  Past  blending  with  Present,  and  Present  with 
Future,  he  finds  himself  led  to  a  kind  of  Island 
of  the  Blest,  where  death  is  forgotten  and  only 
the  joy  of  life,  and  life's  good  deeds,  still  remain  ; 
where   pleasure  -  domes,    and    all    the  ancient 


78        The  Value  of  the  Treasury. 


"miracles  of  rare  device,"  rise  into  the  air  from 
above  the  flowers ;  and  where  the  damsel  with 
the  dulcimer  beside  the  running  stream  sings  to 
him  of  Mount  Abora  and  of  the  old  heroes  of  the 
elder  days.  If  the  Egyptologist  or  the  archaeolo- 
gist could  revive  within  him  one-hundredth  part 
of  the  elusive  romance,  the  delicate  gaiety,  the 
subtle  humour,  the  intangible  tenderness,  the*  un- 
speakable goodness,  of  much  that  is  to  be  found 
in  his  province,  one  would  have  to  cry,  like 
Coleridge — 

"  Beware,  beware ! 
Weave  a  circle  round  him  thrice, 
And  close  your  eyes  with  holy  dread, 
For  he  on  honey-dew  hath  fed, 
And  drunk  the  milk  of  Paradise." 


« 


PART  II. 
STUDIES  IN  THE  TREASURY. 


"And  I  could  tell  thee  stories  that  would  make  thee  laugh  at  all  thy 
trouble,  and  take  thee  to  a  land  of  which  thou  hast  never  even  dreamed. 
Where  the  trees  have  ever  blossoms,  and  are  noisy  with  the  humming  of  in- 
toxicated bees.  Where  by  day  the  suns  are  never  burning,  and  by  night 
the  moonstones  ooze  with  nectar  in  the  rays  of  the  camphor-laden  moon. 
Where  the  blue  lakes  are  filled  with  rows  of  silver  swans,  and  where,  on 
steps  of  lapis  lazuli,  the  peacocks  dance  in  agitation  at  the  murmur  of  the 
thunder  in  the  hills.  Where  the  lightning  flashes  without  harming,  to 
light  the  way  to  women  stealing  in  the  darkness  to  meetings  with  their 
lovers,  and  the  rainbow  hangs  for  ever  like  an  opal  on  the  dark  blue  curtain 
of  the  cloud.  Where,  on  the  moonlit  roofs  of  crystal  palaces,  pairs  of  lovers 
laugh  at  the  reflection  of  each  other's  love-sick  faces  in  goblets  of  red  wine, 
breathing,  as  they  drink,  air  heavy  with  the  fragrance  of  the  sandal,  wafted 
on  the  breezes  from  the  mountain  of  the  south.  Where  they  play  and  pelt 
each  other  with  emeralds  and  rubies,  fetched  at  the  churning  of  the  ocean 
from  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  Where  rivers,  whose  sands  are  always  golden, 
flow  slowly  past  long  lines  of  silent  cranes  that  hunt  for  silver  fishes  in  the 
rushes  on  the  banks.  Where  men  are  true,  and  maidens  love  for  ever,  and 
the  lotus  never  fudes.  F  W.  Baix  :  A  Ilcifer  of  the  Dawn. 


CHAPTER  IV, 


THE  TEMPERAMENT  OF  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 

A  certain  school  geography  book,  now  out  of 
date,  condenses  its  remarks  upon  the  character  of 
our  Gallic  cousins  into  the  following  pregnant 
sentence  :  "  The  French  are  a  gay  and  frivolous 
nation,  fond  of  dancing  and  red  wine."  The 
description  would  so  nearly  apply  to  the  ancient 
inhabitants  of  Egypt,  that  its  adoption  here  as  a 
text  to  this  chapter  cannot  be  said  to  be  extra- 
vagant. The  unbiassed  inquirer  into  the  affairs  of 
ancient  Egypt  must  discover  ultimately,  and  per- 
haps to  his  regret,  that  the  dwellers  on  the  Nile 
were  a  "  gay  and  frivolous  people,"  festive,  light- 
hearted,  and  mirthful,  "  fond  of  dancing  and  red 
wine,"  and  pledged  to  all  that  is  brilliant  in  life. 
There  are  very  many  people,  naturally,  who  hold 
to  those  views  which  their  forefathers  held  before 
them,  and  picture  the  Egyptians  as  a  sombre, 
gloomy  people ;  replete  with  thoughts  of  Death 
and  of  the  more  melancholy  aspect  of  religion ; 
burdened  with  the  menacing  presence  of  a  multi- 
tude of  horrible  gods  and  demons,  whose  priests 
demanded  the  erection  of  vast  temples  for  their 

F 


82  Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


appeasement ;  having  little  joy  of  this  life,  and 
much  uneasy  conjecture  about  the  next ;  making 
entertainment  in  solemn  gatherings  and  ponderous 
feasts ;  and  holding  merriment  in  holy  contempt. 
Of  the  five  startling  classes  into  which  the  die- 
tionary  divides  the  human  temperament,  namely, 
the  bilious  or  choleric,  the  phlegmatic,  the  san- 
guine, the  melancholic,  and  the  nervous,  it  is 
probable  that  the  first,  the  second,  and  the  fourth 
would  be  those  assigned  to  the  ancient  Egyptians 
by  these  people.  This  view  is  so  entirely  false  that 
one  will  be  forgiven  if,  in  the  attempt  to  dissolve 
it,  the  gaiety  of  the  race  is  thrust  before  the 
reader  with  too  little  extenuation.  The  sanguine, 
and  perhaps  the  nervous,  are  the  classes  of  tem- 
perament under  which  the  Egyptians  must  be 
docketed.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  they  were  an 
industrious  and  even  a  strenuous  people,  that  they 
indulged  in  the  most  serious  thoughts,  and  at- 
tempted to  study  the  most  complex  problems  of 
life,  and  that  the  ceremonial  side  of  their  religion 
occupied  a  large  part  of  their  time.  But  there  is 
abundant  evidence  to  show  that,  like  their  descen- 
dents  of  the  present  day,  they  were  one  of  the 
least  gloomy  people  of  the  world,  and  that  they 
took  their  duties  in  the  most  buoyant  manner, 
allowing  as  much  sunshine  to  radiate  through 
their  minds  as  shone  from  the  cloudless  Egyptian 
skies  upon  their  dazzling  country. 

It  is  curiously  interesting  to  notice  how  general 
is  the  present  belief  in  the  solemnity  of  this  ancient 


Temperament  of  Ancient  Egyptians.  83 


race's  attitude  towards  existence,  and  how  little 
their  real  character  is  appreciated.  Already  the 
reader  will  be  protesting,  perhaps,  that  the  appli- 
cation of  the  geographer's  summary  of  French 
characteristics  to  the  ancient  Egyptians  lessens  in 
no  wise  its  ridiculousness,  but  rather  increases  it. 
Let  the  protest,  however,  be  held  back  for  a  while. 
Even  if  the  Egyptians  were  not  always  frivolous, 
they  were  always  uncommonly  gay,  and  any  slight 
exaggeration  will  be  pardoned  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  old  prejudices  have  to  be  violently  overturned, 
and  the  stigma  of  melancholy  and  ponderous 
sobriety  torn  from  the  national  name.  It  would 
be  a  matter  of  little  surprise  to  some  good  persons 
if  the  products  of  excavation  in  the  Nile  Valley 
consisted  largely  of  antique  black  kid  gloves. 

Like  many  other  nations  the  ancient  Egyptians 
rendered  mortuary  service  to  their  ancestors,  and 
solid  tomb-chapels  had  to  be  constructed  in  honour 
of  the  more  important  dead.  Both  for  the  purpose 
of  preserving  the  mummy  intact,  and  also  in  order 
to  keep  the  ceremonies  going  for  as  long  a  period 
of  time  as  possible,  these  chapels  were  constructed 
in  a  most  substantial  manner,  and  many  of  them 
have  withstood  successfully  the  siege  of  the  years. 
The  dwelling-houses,  on  the  other  hand,  were 
seldom  delivered  from  father  to  son ;  but.  as  in 
modern  Egypt,  each  grandee  built  a  palace  for 
himself,  designed  to  last  for  a  lifetime  only,  and 
hardly  one  of  these  mansions  still  exists  even  as 
a  ruin. 


84  Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


Moreover  the  tombs  were  constructed  in  the  dry 
desert  or  in  the  solid  hillside,  whereas  the  dwelling- 
houses  were  situated  on  the  damp  earth,  where 
they  had  little  chance  of  remaining  undemolished. 
And  so  it  is  that  the  main  part  of  our  knowledge 
of  the  Egyptians  is  derived  from  a  study  of  their 
tombs  and  mortuary  temples.  How  false  would  be 
our  estimate  of  the  character  of  a  modern  nation 
were  we  to  glean  our  information  solely  from  its 
churchyard  inscriptions !  We  should  know  abso- 
lutely nothing  of  the  frivolous  side  of  the  life  of 
those  whose  bare  bones  lie  beneath  the  gloomy 
declaration  of  their  Christian  virtues.  It  will  be 
realised  how  sincere  was  the  light -heartedness 
of  the  Egyptians  when  it  is  remembered  that 
almost  everything  in  the  following  record  of  their 
gaieties  is  derived  from  a  study  of  the  tombs,  and 
of  objects  found  therein. 

Light-hear tedness  is  the  key-note  of  the  ancient 
philosophy  of  the  country,  and  in  this  assertion 
the  reader  will,  in  most  cases,  find  cause  for  sur- 
prise. The  Greek  travellers  in  Egypt,  who  re- 
turned to  their  native  land  impressed  with  the 
wonderful  mysticism  of  the  Egyptians,  committed 
their  amazement  to  paper,  and  so  led  off  that 
feeling  of  awed  reverence  which  is  felt  for  the 
philosophy  of  Pharaoh's  subjects.  But  in  their 
case  there  was  the  presence  of  the  priests  and 
wise  men  eloquently  to  baffle  them  into  the  state 
of  respect,  and  there  were  a  thousand  unwritten 
arguments,  comments,  articles  of  faith,  and  con- 


Temperament  of  Ancient  Egyptians.  85 


troverted  points  of  doctrine  heard  from  the  mouths 
of  the  believers,  to  surprise  them  into  a  reverential 
attitude.  But  we  of  the  present  day  have  left  to 
us  only  the  more  outward  and  visible  remains  of 
the  Egyptians.  There  are  only  the  fundamental 
doctrines  to  work  on,  the  more  penetrating  notes 
of  the  harmony  to  listen  to.  Thus  the  outline  of 
the  philosophy  is  able  to  be  studied  without  any 
complication,  and  we  have  no  whirligig  of  priestly 
talk  to  confuse  it.  Examined  in  this  way,  working 
only  from  cold  stones  and  dry  papyri,  we  are  con- 
fronted with  the  old  "  Eat,  drink,  and  be  merry," 
which  is  at  once  the  happiest  and  most  danger- 
ous philosophy  conceived  by  man.  It  is  to  be 
noticed  that  this  way  of  looking  at  life  is  to  be 
found  in  Egypt  from  the  earliest  times  down  to 
the  period  of  the  Greek  occupation  of  the  country, 
and,  in  fact,  until  the  present  day.  That  is  to  say, 
it  was  a  philosophy  inborn  in  the  Egyptian, — a 
part  of  his  nature. 

Imhotep,  the  famous  philosopher  of  Dynasty  III., 
about  B.C.  3000,  said  to  his  disciples  :  "  Behold  the 
dwellings  of  the  dead.  Their  walls  fall  down,  their 
place  is  no  more ;  they  are  as  though  they  had 
never  existed  "  ;  and  he  drew  from  this  the  lesson 
that  man  is  soon  done  with  and  forgotten,  and  that 
therefore  his  life  should  be  as  happy  as  possible. 
To  Imhotep  must  be  attributed  the  earliest  known 
exhortation  to  man  to  resign  himself  to  his  candle- 
end  of  a  life,  and  to  the  inevitable  snuffing-out  to 
come,  and  to  be  merry  while  yet  he  may.  There 


86  Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


is  a  poem,  dating  from  about  B.C.  2000,  from  which 
the  following  is  taken  : — 

"  Walk  after  thy  heart's  desire  so  long  as  thou  livest.  Put 
myrrh  on  thy  head,  clothe  thyself  in  fine  linen,  anoint  thy- 
self with  the  true  marvels  of  God.  .  .  .  Let  not  thy  heart 
concern  itself,  until  there  cometh  to  thee  that  great  day  of 
lamentation.  Yet  he  who  is  at  rest  can  hear  not  thy  com- 
plaint, and  he  who  lies  in  the  tomb  can  understand  not  thy 
weeping.  Therefore,  with  smiling  face,  let  thy  days  be 
happy,  and  rest  not  therein.  For  no  man  carrieth  his  goods 
away  with  him ;  w  0,  no  man  returneth  again  who  is  gone 
thither." 

Again,  we  have  the  same  sentiments  expressed 
in  a  tomb  of  about  B.C.  1350,  belonging  to  a  certain 
Neferhotep,  a  priest  of  Amen.  It  is  quoted  on 
page  235,  and  here  we  need  only  note  the  ending  : 

"  Come,  songs  and  music  are  before  thee.  Set  behind  thee 
all  cares ;  think  only  upon  gladness,  until  that  day  cometh 
whereon  thou  shalt  go  down  to  the  land  which  loveth 
silence." 

A  Ptolemaic  inscription  quoted  more  fully  towards 
the  end  of  this  chapter  reads  :  "  Follow  thy  desire 
by  night  and  by  day.  Put  not  care  within  thy 
heart." 

The  ancient  Egyptian  peasants,  like  their  modern 
descendants,  were  fatalists,  and  a  happy  careless- 
ness seems  to  have  softened  the  strenuousness 
of  their  daily  tasks.  The  peasants  of  the  present 
day  in  Egypt  so  lack  the  initiative  to  develop 
the  scope  of  their  industries  that  their  life  cannot 
be  said  to  be  strenuous.    In  whatever  work  they 


Temperament  of  Ancient  Egyptians.  87 


undertake,  however,  they  show  a  wonderful  degree 
of  cheerfulness,  and  a  fine  disregard  for  misfortune. 
Their  forefathers,  similarly,  went  through  their 
labours  with  a  song  upon  their  lips.  In  the  tombs 
at  Sakkara,  dating  from  the  Old  Empire,  there  are 
scenes  representing  flocks  of  goats  treading  in  the 
seed  on  the  newly-sown  ground,  and  the  inscrip- 
tions give  the  song  which  the  goat-herds  sing  : — 

"  The  goat-herd  is  in  the  water  with  the  fishes, — 
He  speaks  with  the  war-fish,  he  talks  with  the  pike ; 
From  the  west  is  your  goat-herd;  your  goat-herd  is  from  the 
west." 

The  meaning  of  the  words  is  not  known,  of  course, 
but  the  song  seems  to  have  been  a  popular  one. 
A  more  comprehensible  ditty  is  that  sung  to  the 
oxen  by  their  driver,  which  dates  from  the  New 
Empire  : — 

"  Thresh  out  for  yourselves,  ye  oxen,  thresh  out  for  yourselves. 
Thresh  out  the  straw  for  your  food,  and  the  grain  for  your 
masters. 

Do  not  rest  yourselves,  for  it  is  cool  to-day." 

Some  of  the  love-songs  have  been  preserved 
from  destruction,  and  these  throw  much  light  upon 
the  subject  of  the  Egyptian  temperament.  A 
number  of  songs,  supposed  to  have  been  sung  by 
a  girl  to  her  lover,  form  themselves  into  a  collec- 
tion entitled  "  The  beautiful  and  gladsome  songs 
of  thy  sister,  whom  thy  heart  loves,  as  she  walks 
in  the  fields."  The  girl  is  supposed  to  belong 
to  the  peasant  class,  and  most  of  the  verses  are 
sung  whilst  she  is  at  her  daily  occupation  of  snar- 


88  Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


ing  wild  duck  in  the  marshes.  One  must  imagine 
the  songs  warbled  without  any  particular  refrain, 
just  as  in  the  case  of  the  modern  Egyptians, 
who  pour  out  their  ancient  tales  of  love  and 
adventure  in  a  series  of  bird-like  cadences,  full- 
throated,  and  often  wonderfully  melodious.  A 
peculiar  sweetness  and  tenderness  will  be  noticed 
in  the  following  examples,  and  though  they  suffer 
in  translation,  their  airy  lightness  and  refinement 
is  to  be  distinguished.  One  characteristic  song, 
addressed  by  the  girl  to  her  lover,  runs — 

"  Caught  by  the  worm,  the  wild  duck  cries, 
But  in  the  love-light  of  thine  eyes 
I,  trembling,  loose  the  trap.    So  flies 

The  bird  into  the  air. 
What  will  my  angry  mother  say  ? 
With  basket  full  I  come  each  day, 
But  now  thy  love  hath  led  me  stray, 

And  I  have  set  no  snare." 

Again,  in  a  somewhat  similar  strain,  she  sings — 

"  The  wild  duck  scatter  far,  and  now 
Again  they  light  upon  the  bough 

And  cry  unto  their  kind ; 
Anon  they  gather  on  the  mere — 
But  yet  unharmed  I  leave  them  there, 

For  love  hath  filled  my  mind." 

Another  song  must  be  given  here  in  prose  form. 
The  girl  who  sings  it  is  supposed  to  be  making 
a  wreath  of  flowers,  and  as  she  works  she 
cries — 

"  I  am  thy  first  sister,  and  to  me  thou  art  as  a  garden 
which  I  have  planted  with  flowers  and  all  sweet-smelling 


Temperament  of  Ancient  Egyptians.  89 


herbs.  And  I  have  directed  a  canal  into  it,  that  thou 
mightest  dip  thy  hand  into  it  when  the  north  wind  blows 
cool.  The  place  is  beautiful  where  we  walk,  because  we 
walk  together,  thy  hand  resting  within  mine,  our  mind 
thoughtful  and  our  heart  joyful.  It  is  intoxicating  to  me 
to  hear  thy  voice,  yet  my  life  depends  upon  hearing  it 
Whenever  I  see  thee  it  is  better  to  me  than  food  and 
drink." 

One  more  song  must  be  quoted,  for  it  is  so 
artless  and  so  full  of  human  tenderness  that  I  may 
risk  the  accusation  of  straying  from  the  main 
argument  in  repeating  it.    It  runs  : — 

"The  breath  of  thy  nostrils  alone 
Is  that  which  maketh  my  heart  to  live. 
I  found  thee : 
God  grant  thee  to  me 
For  ever  and  ever." 

It  is  really  painful  to  think  of  these  words  as 
having  fallen  from  the  lips  of  what  is  now  a  resin- 
smelling  lump  of  bones  and  hardened  flesh,  perhaps 
still  unearthed,  perhaps  lying  in  some  museum 
show-case,  or  perhaps  kicked  about  in  fragments 
over  the  hot  sand  of  some  tourist-crowded  necro- 
polis. Mummies  are  the  most  lifeless  objects  one 
could  well  imagine.  It  is  impossible  even  for  those 
whose  imaginations  are  most  powerful,  to  infuse 
life  into  a  thing  so  utterly  dead  as  an  em- 
balmed body ;  and  this  fact  is  partly  responsible 
for  that  atmosphere  of  stark,  melancholy,  sobriety 
and  aloofness  which  surrounds  the  affairs  of  ancient 
Egypt.  In  reading  these  verses,  it  is  imperative 
for  their  right  understanding  that  the  mummies 


90  Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


and  their  resting-places  should  be  banished  from 
the  thoughts.  It  is  not  always  a  simple  matter 
for  the  student  to  rid  himself  of  the  atmosphere 
of  the  museum,  where  the  beads  which  should 
be  jangling  on  a  brown  neck  are  lying  numbered 
and  labelled  on  red  velvet ;  where  the  bird-trap, 
once  the  centre  of  such  feathered  commotion,  is 
propped  up  in  a  glass  case  as  "  D,  18,432"; 
and  where  even  the  document  in  which  the  verses 
are  written  is  the  lawful  booty  of  the  grammarian 
and  philologist  in  the  library.  But  it  is  the  first 
duty  of  an  archaeologist  to  do  away  with  that 
atmosphere. 

Let  those  who  are  untrammelled  then,  pass 
out  into  the  sunshine  of  the  Egyptian  fields  and 
marshes,  where  the  wild  duck  cry  to  each  other 
as  they  scuttle  through  the  tall  reeds.  Here  in 
the  early  morning  comes  our  songstress,  and  one 
may  see  her  as  clearly  as  one  can  that  Shulamite 
of  King  Solomons  day,  who  has  had  the  good 
fortune  to  belong  to  a  land  where  stones  and 
bones,  being  few  in  number,  do  not  endanger 
the  atmosphere  of  the  literature.  One  may  see 
her,  her  hair  moving  in  the  breeze  "  as  a  flock 
of  goats  that  appear  from  Mount  Gilead "  ;  her 
teeth  white  "as  a  flock  of  shorn  sheep  which  came 
up  from  the  washing,"  and  her  lips  "  like  a  thread 
of  scarlet."  Through  such  imaginings  alone  can 
one  appreciate  the  songs,  or  realise  the  lightness 
of  the  manner  in  which  they  were  sung. 

With  such  a  happy  view  of  life  amongst  the 


Temperament  of  Ancient  Egyptians.  91 


upper  classes  as  is  indicated  by  their  philosophy, 
and  with  that  merry  disposition  amongst  the 
peasants  which  shows  itself  in  their  love  of  song, 
it  is  not  surprising  to  find  that  asceticism  is 
practically  unknown  in  ancient  Egypt  before  the 
time  of  Christ.  At  first  sight,  in  reflecting  on 
the  mysteries  and  religious  ceremonies  of  the 
nation,  we  are  apt  to  endow  the  priests  and 
other  participators  with  a  degree  of  austerity 
wholly  unjustified  by  facts.  We  picture  the 
priest  chanting  his  formulae  in  the  dim  light  of 
the  temple,  the  atmosphere  about  him  heavy  with 
incense ;  and  we  imagine  him  as  an  anchorite  who 
has  put  away  the  things  of  this  world.  But  in 
reality  there  seems  to  have  been  not  even  such 
a  thing  as  a  celibate  amongst  the  priests.  Each 
man  had  his  wife  and  his  family,  his  house,  and 
his  comforts  of  food  and  fine  linen.  He  indulged 
in  the  usual  pastimes  and  was  present  at  the 
merriest  of  feasts.  The  famous  wise  men  and 
magicians,  such  as  Uba  -  ana  of  the  Westcar 
Papyrus,  had  their  wives,  their  parks,  their  plea- 
sure-pavilions, and  their  hosts  of  servants.  Great 
dignitaries  of  the  Anion  Church,  such  as  Ainen- 
hotepsase,  the  Second  Prophet  of  Amen  in  the 
time  of  Thutmosis  IV.,  are  represented  as  feasting 
with  their  friends,  or  driving  through  Thebes  in 
richly-decorated  chariots  drawn  by  prancing  horses, 
and  attended  by  an  array  of  servants.  A  monastic 
life,  or  the  life  of  an  anchorite,  was  held  by  the 
Egyptians  in  scorn ;  and  indeed  the  state  of  mind 


92 


Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


which  produces  the  monk  and  the  hermit  was 
almost  entirely  unknown  to  the  nation  in  dynastic 
times.  It  was  only  in  the  Ptolemaic  and  Roman 
periods  that  asceticism  came  to  be  practised ;  and 
some  have  thought  that  its  introduction  into  Egypt 
is  to  be  attributed  to  the  preaching  of  the  Hindoo 
missionaries  sent  from  India  to  the  court  of  the 
Ptolemies.  It  is  not  really  an  Egyptian  char- 
acteristic ;  and  its  practice  did  not  last  for  more 
than  a  few  centuries. 

The  religious  teachings  of  the  Egyptians  before 
the  Ptolemaic  era  do  not  suggest  that  the  morti- 
fication of  the  flesh  was  a  possible  means  of  puri- 
fying the  spirit.  An  appeal  to  the  senses  and  to 
the  emotions,  however,  was  considered  as  a  legiti- 
mate method  of  reaching  the  soul.  The  Egyptians 
were  passionately  fond  of  ceremonial  display.  Their 
huge  temples,  painted  as  they  were  with  the  most 
brilliant  colours,  formed  the  setting  of  processions 
and  ceremonies  in  which  music,  rhythmic  motion, 
and  colour  were  brought  to  a  point  of  excellence. 
In  honour  of  some  of  the  gods  dances  were  con- 
ducted ;  while  celebrations,  such  as  the  fantastic 
Feast  of  Lamps,  were  held  on  the  anniversaries 
of  religious  events.  In  these  gorgeously  spec- 
tacular ceremonies  there  was  no  place  for  anything 
sombre  or  austere,  nor  could  they  have  been  con- 
ceived by  any  but  the  most  life-loving  tempera- 
ments. 

As  in  his  religious  functions,  so  in  his  home, 
the  Egyptian  regarded   brilliancy  and  festivity 


Temperament  of  Ancient  Egyptians.  93 


as  an  edification.  When  in  trouble  or  distress, 
he  was  wont  to  relieve  his  mind  as  readily  by 
an  appeal  to  the  vanities  of  this  world  as  by  an 
invocation  of  the  powers  of  Heaven.  Thus,  when 
King  Sneferu,  of  Dynasty  IV.,  was  oppressed 
with  the  cares  of  state,  his  councillor  Zazamankh 
constructed  for  him  a  pleasure  boat  which  was 
rowed  around  a  lake  by  the  most  beautiful 
damsels  obtainable.  And  again,  when  Wenamon, 
the  envoy  of  Herhor  of  Dynasty  XXI.,  had  fallen 
into  trouble  with  the  pirates  of  the  Mediterranean, 
his  depression  was  banished  by  a  gift  of  a  dancing- 
girl,  two  vessels  of  wine,  a  young  goat  of  tender 
flesh,  and  a  message  which  read — "  Eat  and  drink, 
and  let  not  thy  heart  feel  apprehension." 

An  intense  craving  for  brightness  and  cheerful- 
ness is  to  be  observed  on  all  sides,  and  the  attempt 
to  cover  every  action  of  life  with  a  kind  of  lustre 
is  perhaps  the  most  apparent  characteristic  of  the 
race.  At  all  times  the  Egyptians  decked  them- 
selves with  flowers,  and  rich  and  poor  alike 
breathed  what  they  called  "the  sweet  north 
wind"  through  a  screen  of  blossoms.  At  their 
feasts  and  festivals  each  guest  was  presented 
with  necklaces  and  crowns  of  lotus-flowers,  and 
a  specially  selected  bouquet  was  carried  in  the 
hands.  Constantly,  as  the  hours  passed,  fresh 
flowers  were  brought  to  them,  and  the  guests 
are  shown  in  the  tomb  paintings  in  the  act  of 
burying  their  noses  in  the  delicate  petals  with 
an  air  of  luxury  which  even  the  conventionalities 


94  Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


of  the  draughtsman  cannot  hide.  In  the  women's 
hair  a  flower  was  pinned  which  hung  down  before 
the  forehead  ;  and  a  cake  of  ointment,  concocted 
of  some  sweet-smelling  unguent,  was  so  arranged 
upon  the  head  that,  as  it  slowly  melted,  it  re- 
perfumed  the  flower.  Complete  wreaths  of  flowers 
were  sometimes  worn,  and  this  was  the  custom  as 
much  in  the  dress  of  the  home  as  in  that  of  the 
feast.  The  common  people  also  arrayed  them- 
selves with  wreaths  of  lotuses  at  all  galas  and 
carnivals.  The  room  in  which  a  feast  was  held 
was  decorated  lavishly  with  flowers.  Blossoms 
crept  up  the  delicate  pillars  to  the  roof;  gar- 
lands twined  themselves  around  the  tables  and 
about  the  jars  of  wine ;  and  single  buds  lay  in 
every  dish  of  food.  Even  the  dead  were  decked 
in  their  tombs  with  a  mass  of  flowers,  as  though 
the  mourners  would  hide  with  the  living  delights 
of  the  earth  the  misery  of  the  grave. 

The  Egyptian  loved  his  garden,  and  filled  it 
with  all  manner  of  beautiful  flowers.  Great 
parks  were  laid  out  by  the  Pharaohs,  and  it  is 
recorded  of  Thutmosis  III.  that  he  brought  back 
from  his  Asiatic  campaigns  vast  quantities  of  rare 
plants  with  which  to  beautify  Thebes.  Festivals 
were  held  at  the  season  when  the  flowers  were 
in  full  bloom,  and  the  light  -  hearted  Egyptian 
did  not  fail  to  make  the  flowers  talk  to  him,  in 
the  imagination,  of  the  delights  of  life.  In  one 
case  a  fig-tree  is  made  to  call  to  a  passing 
maiden  to  come  into  its  shade. 


Pl.  ix. 


Temperament  of  Ancient  Egyptians.  95 


"Come,"  it  says,  "and  spend  this  festal  day,  and  to- 
morrow, and  the  day  after  to-morrow,  sitting  in  my  shadow. 
Let  thy  lover  sit  at  thy  side,  and  let  him  drink.  .  .  .  Thy 
servants  will  come  with  the  dinner-things — they  will  bring 
drink  of  every  kind,  with  all  manner  of  cakes,  flowers  of 
yesterday  and  of  to-day,  and  all  kinds  of  refreshing  fruit." 

Than  this  one  could  hardly  find  a  more  convincing 
indication  of  the  gaiety  of  the  Egyptian  tempera- 
ment. In  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries 
a.d.  the  people  were  so  oppressed  that  any  display 
of  luxury  was  discouraged,  and  a  happy  smile 
brought  the  tax-gatherer  to  the  door  to  ascertain 
whether  it  was  due  to  financial  prosperity.  But 
the  carrying  of  flowers,  and  other  indications  of 
a  kind  of  unworried  contentment,  are  now  again 
becoming  apparent  on  all  sides. 

The  affection  displayed  by  the  Egyptians  for 
bright  colours  would  alone  indicate  that  their 
temperament  was  not  melancholic.  The  houses 
of  the  rich  were  painted  with  colours  which  would 
be  regarded  as  crude  had  they  appeared  in  the 
Occident,  but  which  are  admissible  in  Egypt 
where  the  natural  brilliancy  of  the  sunshine  and 
the  scenery  demands  a  more  extreme  colour- 
scheme  in  decoration.  The  pavilions  in  which 
the  nobles  "made  a  happy  day,"  as  they  phrased 
it,  were  painted  with  the  most  brilliant  wall- 
decorations,  and  the  delicately  -  shaped  lotus 
columns  supporting  the  roof  were  striped  with 
half  a  dozen  colours,  and  were  hung  with 
streamers  of  linen.    The  ceilings  and  pavements 


96 


Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


seem  to  have  afforded  the  artists  a  happy  field 
for  a  display  of  their  originality  and  skill,  and 
it  is  on  these  stretches  of  smooth-plastered  sur- 
face that  gems  of  Egyptian  art  are  often  found. 
A  pavement  from  the  palace  of  Akhnaton  at 
Tell  el  Amarna  shows  a  scene  in  which  a  cow 
is  depicted  frisking  through  the  reeds,  and  birds 
are  represented  flying  over  the  marshes.  In  the 
palace  of  Amenhotep  III.  at  Gurneh  there  was 
a  ceiling  decoration  representing  a  flight  of  doves, 
which,  in  its  delicacy  of  execution  and  colouring, 
is  not  to  be  classed  with  the  crude  forms  of 
Egyptian  decoration,  but  indicates  an  equally 
light-hearted  temperament  in  its  creator.  It  is 
not  probable  that  either  bright  colours  or  dainti- 
ness of  design  would  emanate  from  the  brains 
of  a  sombre-minded  people. 

Some  of  the  feminine  garments  worn  in  ancient 
Egypt  were  exceedingly  gaudy,  and  they  made 
up  in  colour  all  that  they  lacked  in  variety  of 
design.  In  the  Middle  and  New  Empires  the 
robes  of  the  men  were  as  many  -  hued  as  their 
wall  decorations,  and  as  rich  in  composition.  One 
may  take  as  a  typical  example  the  costume  of 
a  certain  priest  who  lived  at  the  end  of  Dynasty 
XVIII.  An  elaborate  wig  covers  his  head ;  a 
richly  ornamented  necklace  surrounds  his  neck ; 
the  upper  part  of  his  body  is  clothed  in  a  tunic 
of  gauze-like  linen ;  as  a  skirt  there  is  swathed 
around  him  the  most  delicately  coloured  fine  linen, 
one  end  of  which  is  brought  up  and  thrown  grace- 


Temperament  of  Ancient  Egyptians.  97 


fully  over  his  arm  ;  decorated  sandals  cover  his 
feet  and  curl  up  over  his  toes;  and  in  his  hand 
he  carries  a  jewelled  wand  surmounted  by  feathers. 
It  would  be  an  absurdity  to  state  that  these  folds 
of  fine  linen  hid  a  heart  set  on  things  higher  than 
this  world  and  its  vanities.  Nor  do  the  objects 
of  daily  use  found  in  the  tombs  suggest  any 
austerity  in  the  Egyptian  character.  There  is 
no  reflection  of  the  Underworld  to  be  looked  for 
in  the  ornamental  bronze  mirrors,  nor  smell  of 
death  in  the  frail  perfume  pots.  Religious  abstrac- 
tion is  not  to  be  sought  in  lotus-formed  drinking- 
cups,  and  mortification  of  the  body  is  certainly 
not  practised  on  golden  chairs  and  soft  cushions. 
These  were  the  objects  buried  in  the  tombs  of 
the  priests  and  religious  teachers. 

The  puritanical  tendency  of  a  race  can  generally 
be  discovered  by  a  study  of  the  personal  names  of 
the  people.  The  names  by  which  the  Egyptians 
called  their  children  are  as  gay  as  they  are  pretty, 
and  lack  entirely  the  Puritan  character.  "Eyes- 
of-love,"  "My -lady -is -as -gold,"  "  Cool-breeze," 
"  Gold-and-lapis-lazuli,"  "  Beautiful-morning,"  are 
Egyptian  names  very  far  removed  from  "  Through- 
trials-and  -  tribulations- we-enter-into-the-Kingdom- 
of-Heaven  Jones,"  which  is  the  actual  name  of  a 
now  living  scion  of  a  Roundhead  family.  And  the 
well-known  "  Praise-God  Barebones  "  has  little  to 
do  with  the  Egyptian  "Beautiful-Kitten,"  "Little- 
Wild-Lion,"  "  I-have-wanted-you,"  "  Sweetheart," 
and  so  on. 

o 


98  Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


The  nature  of  the  folk-tales  is  equally  indicative 
of  the  temperament  of  a  nation.  The  stories  which 
have  come  down  to  us  from  ancient  Egypt  are 
often  as  frivolous  as  they  are  quaint.  Nothing 
delighted  the  Egyptians  more  than  the  listening 
to  a  tale  told  by  an  expert  story-teller  ;  and  it 
is  to  be  supposed  that  such  persons  were  in  as 
much  demand  in  the  old  days  as  they  are  now. 
One  may  still  read  of  the  adventures  of  the  Prince 
who  was  fated  to  die  by  a  dog,  a  snake,  or  a 
crocodile ;  of  the  magician  who  made  the  waters 
of  the  lake  heap  themselves  up  that  he  might 
descend  to  the  bottom  dry-shod  to  recover  a  lady's 
jewel ;  of  the  fat  old  wizard  who  could  cut  a  man's 
head  off  and  join  it  again  to  his  body  ;  of  the  fairy 
godmothers  who  made  presents  to  a  new  -  born 
babe ;  of  the  shipwrecked  sailor  who  was  thrown 
up  on  an  island  inhabited  by  serpents  with  human 
natures  ;  of  the  princess  in  the  tower  whose  lovers 
spent  their  days  in  attempting  to  climb  to  her 
window, — and  so  on.  The  stories  have  no  moral, 
they  are  not  pompous  :  they  are  purely  amusing, 
interesting,  and  romantic.  As  an  example  one 
may  quote  the  story  which  is  told  of  Prince 
Setna,  the  son  of  Rameses  II.  This  Prince  was 
one  day  sitting  in  the  court  of  the  temple  of 
Ptah,  when  he  saw  a  woman  pass  u  beautiful 
exceedingly,  there  being  no  woman  of  her  beauty." 
There  were  wonderful  golden  ornaments  upon  her, 
and  she  was  attended  by  fifty-two  persons,  them- 
selves of  some  rank  and  much  beauty.    "  The  hour 


Temperament  of  Ancient  Egyptians.  99 


that  Setna  saw  her,  he  knew  not  the  place  on 
earth  where  he  was  "  ;  and  he  called  to  his  servants 
and  told  them  to  "  go  quickly  to  the  place  where 
she  is,  and  learn  what  comes  under  her  command." 
The  beautiful  lady  proved  finally  to  be  named 
Tabubna,  the  daughter  of  a  priest  of  Bast,  the 
Cat.  Setna's  acquaintance  with  her  was  later  of 
a  most  disgraceful  character ;  and,  from  motives 
which  are  not  clear,  she  made  him  murder  his  own 
children  to  please  her.  At  the  critical  moment, 
however,  when  the  climax  is  reached,  the  old,  old 
joke  is  played  upon  the  listener,  who  is  told  that 
Setna  then  woke  up.  and  discovered  that  the  whole 
affair  had  been  an  afternoon  dream  in  the  shade  of 
the  temple  court. 

The  Egyptians  often  amused  themselves  by 
drawing  comic  pictures  and  caricatures,  and  there 
is  an  interesting  series  still  preserved  in  which 
animals  take  the  place  of  human  beings,  and  are 
shown  performing  all  manner  of  antics.  One  sees 
a  cat  walking  on  its  hind  legs  driving  a  flock  of 
geese,  while  a  wolf  carrying  a  staff  and  knapsack 
leads  a  herd  of  goats.  There  is  a  battle  of  the  mice 
and  cats,  and  the  king  of  the  mice,  in  his  chariot 
drawn  by  two  dogs,  is  seen  attacking  the  fortress 
of  the  cats.  A  picture  which  is  worthy  of  Edward 
Lear  shows  a  ridiculous  hippopotamus  seated 
amidst  the  foliage  of  a  tree,  eating  from  a  table, 
whilst  a  crow  mounts  a  ladder  to  wait  upon  him. 
There  are  caricatures  showing  women  of  fashion 
rouging  their  faces,  unshaven  and  really  amusing 


ioo         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


old  tramps,  and  so  forth.  Even  upon  the  walls  of 
the  tombs  there  are  often  comic  pictures,  in  which 
one  may  see  little  girls  fighting  and  tearing  at 
each  others'  hair,  men  tumbling  one  over  another 
as  they  play,  and  the  like ;  and  one  must  suppose 
that  these  were  the  scenes  which  the  owner  of  the 
tomb  wished  to  perpetuate  throughout  the  eternity 
of  Death. 

The  Egyptians  took  keen  delight  in  music.  In 
the  sound  of  the  trumpet  and  on  the  well-tuned 
cymbals  they  praised  God  in  Egypt  as  merrily  as 
the  Psalmist  could  wish.  The  strings  and  the 
pipe,  the  lute  and  the  harp,  made  music  at  every 
festival  —  religious,  national,  or  private.  Plato 
tells  us  that  "  nothing  but  beautiful  forms  and  fine 
music  was  permitted  to  enter  into  the  assemblies 
of  young  people  "  in  Egypt ;  and  he  states  that 
music  was  considered  as  being  of  the  greatest  con- 
sequence for  its  beneficial  effects  upon  youthful 
minds.  Strabo  records  the  fact  that  music  was 
largely  taught  in  Egypt,  and  the  numbers  of 
musical  instruments  buried  in  the  tombs  or  repre- 
sented in  the  decorations  confirm  his  statement. 
The  music  was  scientifically  taught,  and  a  know- 
ledge of  harmony  is  apparent  in  the  complicated 
forms  of  the  instruments.  The  harps  sometimes 
had  as  many  as  twenty-two  strings  ;  the  long- 
handled  guitars,  fitted  with  three  strings,  were 
capable  of  wide  gradations  ;  and  the  flutes  were 
sufficiently  complicated  to  be  described  by  early 
writers  as  "  many- toned."    The  Egyptian  did  not 


\_Plioto  by  E.  Brugsch  Pasha. 


A  relief  of  the  Saitic  Period,  representing-  an  old  man  playing-  upon  a 
harp,  and  a  woman  beating  a  drum.  Offerings  of  food  and  flowers 
are  placed  before  them. — Alexandria  Museum. 


Pl.  x. 


Temperament  of  Ancient  Egyptians.  101 


merely  bang  a  drum  with  his  fist  because  it  made 
a  noise,  nor  blow  blasts  upon  a  trumpet  as  a  means 
of  expressing  the  inexpressible.  He  was  an  edu- 
cated musician,  and  he  employed  the  medium  of 
music  to  encourage  his  lightness  of  heart  and  to 
render  his  gaiety  more  gay. 

One  sees  representations  of  the  women  in  a  rich 
man's  harem  amusing  themselves  by  dancing  and 
singing.  In  the  tomb  of  Ay  there  is  a  scene  show- 
ing the  interior  of  the  women's  quarters,  and  here 
the  ladies  are  shown  dancing,  playing  guitars, 
feasting,  or  adorning  themselves  with  their  jewel- 
lery ;  while  the  store-rooms  are  seen  to  be  filled 
with  all  manner  of  musical  instruments,  as  well 
as  mirrors,  boxes  of  clothes,  and  articles  of  femi- 
nine use.  At  feasts  and  banquets  a  string  band 
played  during  the  meal,  and  songs  were  sung  to 
the  accompaniment  of  the  harp.  At  religious 
festivals  choruses  of  male  and  female  voices  were 
introduced.  Soldiers  marched  through  the  streets 
to  the  sound  of  trumpets  and  drums,  and  marriage 
processions  and  the  like  were  led  by  a  band.  At 
the  feasts  it  was  customary  for  the  dancing-girls, 
who  were  employed  for  the  amusement  of  the 
guests,  to  perform  their  dances  and  to  play  a 
guitar  or  a  flute  at  the  same  time.  One  sees 
representations  of  girls,  their  heads  thrown  back 
and  their  long  hair  flying,  merrily  twanging  a 
guitar  as  they  skip  round  the  room.  In  the  civil 
and  religious  processions  many  of  the  participators 
danced  along  as  though  from  sheer  lightness  of 


io2         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


heart ;  and  on  some  occasions  even  the  band  footed 
it  down  the  high-road,  circling,  jumping,  and  skip- 
ping as  they  played. 

The  words  for  "  rejoice "  and  "  dance "  were 
synonymous  in  the  literature  of  the  Egyptians. 
In  early  days  dancing  naturally  implied  rejoicing, 
and  rejoicing  was  most  easily  expressed  by  danc- 
ing. But  the  Egyptians  of  the  refined  periods 
more  often  danced  to  amuse  themselves,  regarding 
it,  just  as  we  do  at  the  present  day,  as  an  exhil- 
aration. Persons  of  the  upper  classes,  however, 
did  not  indulge  very  freely  in  it,  but  preferred  to 
watch  the  performances  of  professional  dancers. 
At  all  banquets  dancing  was  as  indispensable  as 
wine,  women,  and  song,  and  it  rather  depended 
on  the  nature  of  the  wine  and  women  as  to 
whether  the  guests  joined  personally  in  the  sport 
or  sat  still  while  the  dancers  swayed  around  the 
room,  The  professionals  were  generally  women, 
but  sometimes  men  were  employed,  and  one  sees 
representations  of  a  man  performing  some  difficult 
solo  while  a  chorus  of  women  sings  and  marks 
time  by  clapping  the  hands.  Men  and  women 
danced  together  on  occasions,  but  as  a  general 
rule  the  Egyptian  preferred  to  watch  the  move- 
ments of  the  more  graceful  sex  by  themselves. 
The  women  sometimes  danced  naked,  to  show  off 
the  grace  of  their  poses  and  the  suppleness  of  their 
muscles  ;  sometimes  they  were  decked  with  ribbons 
only ;  and  sometimes  they  wore  transparent  dresses 
x  made  of  linen  of  the  finest  texture.    It  was  not 


Temperament  of  Ancient  Egyptians.  103 


unusual  for  them  to  carry  tambourines  and  casta- 
nets with  which  to  beat  time  to  their  dances.  On 
the  other  hand,  there  were  delicate  and  sober  per- 
formances, unaccompanied  by  music.  The  paint- 
ings show  some  of  the  poses  to  have  been  exceed- 
ingly graceful,  and  there  were  character  dances 
enacted  in  which  the  figures  must  have  been 
highly  dramatic  and  artistic.  For  example,  the 
tableau  which  occurs  in  one  dance,  and  is  called 
"  The  Wind,"  shows  two  of  the  dancing-girls  bent 
back  like  reeds  when  the  wind  blows  upon  them, 
while  a  third  figure  stands  over  them  in  protection, 
as  though  symbolising  the  immovable  rocks. 

But  more  usually  the  merry  mood  of  the  Egypt- 
ians asserted  itself,  as  it  so  often  does  at  the  present 
day,  in  a  demand  for  something  approaching  nearer 
to  buffoonery.  The  dancers  whirled  one  another 
about  in  the  wildest  manner,  often  tumbling  head 
over  heels  on  the  floor.  A  trick,  attended  gener- 
ally with  success,  consisted  in  the  attempt  by  the 
dancers  to  balance  the  body  upon  the  head  with- 
out the  support  of  the  arms.  This  buffoonery  was 
highly  appreciated  by  the  audience  which  wit- 
nessed it;  and  the  banqueting -room  must  have 
been  full  of  the  noise  of  riotous  mirth.  One  can- 
not, indeed,  regard  a  feast  as  pompous  or  solemn 
at  which  the  banging  of  the  tambourines  and  the 
click  of  castanets  vied  with  the  clatter  of  the 
dishes  and  the  laughter  of  the  guests  in  creating  a 
general  hullabaloo.  Let  those  state  who  will  that 
the  Egyptian  was  a  gloomy  individual,  but  first 


io4         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


let  them  not  fail  to  observe  that  same  Egyptian 
standing  upon  his  head  amidst  the  roars  of  laugh- 
ter of  his  friends. 

Dancing  as  a  religious  ceremony  is  to  be  found 
in  many  primitive  countries,  and  in  Egypt  it  exists 
at  the  present  day  in  more  than  one  form.  In  the 
days  of  the  Pharaohs  it  was  customary  to  institute 
dances  in  honour  of  some  of  the  gods,  more  especi- 
ally those  deities  whose  concerns  were  earthy — 
that  is  to  say,  those  connected  with  love,  joy, 
birth,  death,  fertility,  reproduction,  and  so  on.  It 
will  be  remembered  how  David  danced  before  the 
Ark  of  the  Lord,  and  how  his  ancestors  danced  in 
honour  of  the  golden  calf.  In  Egypt  the  king  was 
wont  to  dance  before  the  great  god  Min  of  the 
crops,  and  at  harvest-time  the  peasants  performed 
their  thanksgiving  before  the  figures  of  Min  in 
this  manner.  Hathor  and  Bast,  the  two  great 
goddesses  of  pleasure,  were  worshipped  in  the 
dance.  Hathor  was  mistress  of  sports  and  danc- 
ing, and  patron  of  amusements  and  mirth,  joy  and 
pleasure,  beauty  and  love ;  and  in  regard  to  the 
happy  temperament  of  the  Egyptians,  it  is  signi- 
ficant that  this  goddess  was  held  in  the  highest 
esteem  throughout  the  history  of  the  nation. 

Bast  was  honoured  by  a  festival  which  for  merri- 
ment and  frivolity  could  not  well  be  equalled.  The 
festival  took  place  at  Bubastis,  and  is  described  by 
Herodotus  in  the  following  words  : — 

"  This  is  the  nature  of  the  ceremony  on  the  way  to  Bubas- 
tis.   They  go  by  water,  and  numerous  boats  are  crowded 


Temperament  of  Ancient  Egyptians.  105 


with  persons  of  both  sexes.  During  the  voyage  several 
women  strike  the  cymbals,  some  men  play  the  flute,  the 
rest  singing  and  clapping  their  hands.  As  they  pass  near  a 
town  they  bring  the  boat  close  to  the  bank.  Some  of  the 
women  continue  to  sing  and  play  the  cymbals ;  others  cry 
out  as  long  as  they  can,  and  utter  mocking  jests  against  the 
people  of  the  town,  who  begin  to  dance,  while  the  former 
pull  up  their  clothes  before  them  in  a  scoffing  manner.  The 
same  is  repeated  at  every  town  they  pass  upon  the  river. 
Arrived  at  Bubastis,  they  celebrate  the  festival  of  Bast, 
sacrificing  a  great  number  of  victims,  and  on  that  occasion 
a  greater  consumption  of  wine  takes  place  than  during  the 
whole  of  the  year." 

At  this  festival  of  Bast  half  the  persons  taking- 
part  in  the  celebrations  must  have  become  intoxi- 
cated. The  Egyptians  were  always  given  to  wine- 
drinking,  and  Athenseus  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that 
they  were  a  nation  addicted  to  systematic  intem- 
perance. The  same  writer,  on  the  authority  of 
Hellanicus,  states  that  the  vine  was  cultivated  in 
the  Nile  valley  at  a  date  earlier  than  that  at 
which  it  was  first  grown  by  any  other  people ;  and 
it  is  to  this  circumstance  that  Dion  attributes  the 
Egyptian's  love  of  wine.  Strabo  and  other  writers 
speak  of  the  wines  of  Egypt  as  being  particularly 
good,  and  various  kinds  emanating  from  different 
localities  are  mentioned.  The  wines  made  from 
grapes  were  of  the  red  and  white  varieties ;  but 
there  were  also  fruit  wines,  made  from  pomegran- 
ates and  other  fruits.  In  the  lists  of  offerings 
inscribed  on  the  walls  of  temples  and  tombs  one 
sees  a  large  number  of  varieties  recorded — wines 


io6         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


from  the  north,  wines  from  the  south,  wines  pro- 
vincial, and  wines  foreign.  Beer,  made  of  barley, 
was  also  drunk  very  largely,  and  this  beverage 
is  heartily  commended  by  the  early  writers.  In- 
deed, the  wine-  and  beer-bibber  was  so  common 
an  offender  against  the  dignity  of  the  nation,  that 
every  moralist  who  arose  had  a  word  to  say  against 
him.  Thus,  for  example,  in  the  Maxims  of  Ani 
one  finds  the  moralist  writing — 

"  Do  not  put  thyself  in  a  beer-house.  An  evil  thing  are 
words  reported  as  coming  from  thy  mouth  when  thou  dost 
not  know  that  they  have  been  said  by  thee.  When  thou 
fallest  thy  limbs  are  broken,  and  nobody  giveth  thee  a  hand. 
Thy  comrades  in  drink  stand  up,  saying,  '  Away  with  this 
drunken  man."' 

The  less  thoughtful  members  of  society,  however, 
considered  drunkenness  as  a  very  good  joke,  and 
even  went  so  far  as  to  portray  it  in  their  tomb 
decorations.  One  sees  men  carried  home  from  a 
feast  across  the  shoulders  of  three  of  their  com- 
panions, or  ignominiously  hauled  out  of  the  house 
by  their  ankles  and  the  scruff  of  their  neck.  In 
the  tomb  of  Paheri  at  El  Kab  women  are  repre- 
sented at  a  feast,  and  scraps  of  their  conversation 
are  recorded,  such,  for  instance,  as  "  Give  me 
eighteen  cups  of  wine,  for  I  should  love  to  drink  to 
drunkenness  :  my  inside  is  as  dry  as  straw."  There 
are  actually  representations  of  women  overcome 
with  nausea  through  immoderate  drinking,  and 
being  attended  by  servants  who  have  hastened 
with  basins  to  their  assistance.    In  another  tomb- 


Temperament  of  Ancient  Egyptians.  107 


painting  a  drunken  man  is  seen  to  have  fallen 
against  one  of  the  delicate  pillars  of  the  pavilion 
with  such  force  that  it  has  toppled  over,  to  the 
dismay  of  the  guests  around. 

In  the  light  of  such  scenes  as  these  one  may 
picture  the  life  of  an  Egyptian  in  the  elder  days 
as  being  not  a  little  depraved.  One  sees  the  men 
in  their  gaudy  raiment,  and  the  women  luxuriously 
clothed,  staining  their  garments  with  the  wine 
spilt  from  the  drinking-bowls  as  their  hands  shake 
with  their  drunken  laughter  ;  and  the  vision  of 
Egyptian  solemnity  is  still  further  banished  at 
the  sight.  It  is  only  too  obvious  that  a  land  of 
laughter  and  jest,  feasting  and  carouse,  must  be 
situated  too  near  a  Pompeian  volcano  to  be  capable 
of  endurance,  and  the  inhabitants  too  purposeless 
in  their  movements  to  avoid  at  some  time  or  other 
running  into  the  paths  of  burning  lava.  The 
people  of  Egypt  went  merrily  through  the  radiant 
valley  in  which  they  lived,  employing  all  that  the 
gods  had  given  them, — not  only  the  green  palms, 
the  thousand  birds,  the  blue  sky,  the  hearty  wind, 
the  river  and  its  reflections,  but  also  the  luxuries 
of  their  civilisation,  —  to  make  for  themselves  a 
frail  feast  of  happiness.  And  when  the  last 
flowers,  the  latest  empty  drinking -cup,  fell  to 
the  ground,  nothing  remained  to  them  but  that 
sodden,  drunken  night  of  disgrace  which  shocks 
one  so  at  the  end  of  the  dynastic  history,  and 
which  inevitably  led  to  the  fall  of  the  nation. 
Christian  asceticism  came  as  the  natural  reaction 


108         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 

and  Muhammedan  strictness  followed  in  due 
course ;  and  it  required  the  force  of  both  these 
movements  to  put  strength  and  health  into  the 
people  once  more. 

One  need  not  dwell,  however,  on  this  aspect  of 
the  Egyptian  temperament.  It  is  more  pleasing, 
and  as  pertinent  to  the  argument,  to  follow  the 
old  lords  of  the  Nile  into  the  sunshine  once  more, 
and  to  glance  for  a  moment  at  their  sports.  Hunt- 
ing was  a  pleasure  to  them,  in  which  they  indulged 
at  every  opportunity.  One  sees  representations 
of  this  with  great  frequency  upon  the  walls  of  the 
tombs.  A  man  will  be  shown  standing  in  a  reed 
boat  which  has  been  pushed  in  amongst  the  waving 
papyrus.  A  boomerang  is  in  his  hand,  and  his 
wife  by  his  side  helps  him  to  locate  the  wild  duck, 
so  that  he  may  penetrate  within  throwing-distance 
of  the  birds  before  they  rise.  Presently  up  they 
go  with  a  whir,  and  the  boomerang  claims  its 
victims ;  while  all  manner  of  smaller  birds  dart 
from  amidst  the  reeds,  and  gaudy  butterflies  pass 
startled  overhead.  Again  one  sees  the  hunter 
galloping  in  his  chariot  over  the  hard  sand  of 
the  desert,  shooting  his  arrows  at  the  gazelle  as 
he  goes.  Or  yet  again  with  his  dogs  he  is  shown 
in  pursuit  of  the  long-eared  Egyptian  hare,  or  of 
some  other  creature  of  the  desert.  When  not  thus 
engaged  he  may  be  seen  excitedly  watching  a  bull- 
fight, or  eagerly  judging  the  merits  of  rival  wrest- 
lers, boxers,  and  fencers.  One  may  follow  him 
later  into  the  seclusion  of  his  garden,  where,  sur- 


Pl.  xi. 


Temperament  of  Ancient  Egyptians.  109 


rounded  by  a  wealth  of  trees  and  flowers,  he  plays 
draughts  with  his  friends,  romps  with  his  children, 
or  fishes  in  his  artificial  ponds.  There  is  much 
evidence  of  this  nature  to  show  that  the  Egyptian 
was  as  much  given  to  these  healthy  amusements  as 
he  was  to  the  mirth  of  the  feast.  Josephus  states 
that  the  Egyptians  were  a  people  addicted  to 
pleasure,  and  the  evidence  brought  together  in 
the  foregoing  pages  shows  that  his  statement  is 
to  be  confirmed.  In  sincere  joy  of  living  they 
surpassed  any  other  nation  of  the  ancient  world. 
Life  was  a  thing  of  such  delight  to  the  Egyptian, 
that  he  shrank  equally  from  losing  it  himself  and 
from  taking  it  from  another.  His  prayer  was  that 
he  might  live  to  be  a  centenarian.  In  spite  of  the 
many  wars  of  the  Egyptians,  there  was  less  un- 
necessary bloodshed  in  the  Nile  valley  than  in  any 
other  country  which  called  itself  civilised.  Death 
was  as  terrible  to  them  as  it  was  inevitable,  and 
the  constant  advice  of  the  thinker  was  that  the 
living  should  make  the  most  of  their  life.  When 
a  king  died,  it  was  said  that  "  he  went  forth  to 
heaven  having  spent  life  in  happiness,"  or  that 
"he  rested  after  life,  having  completed  his  years 
in  happiness."  It  is  true  that  the  Egyptians 
wished  to  picture  the  after-life  as  one  of  con- 
tinuous joy.  One  sees  representations  of  a  man's 
soul  seated  in  the  shade  of  the  fruit-trees  of  the 
Underworld,  while  birds  sing  in  the  branches 
above  him,  and  a  lake  of  cool  water  lies  before 
him ;  but  they  seemed  to  know  that  this  was  too 


no         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


pleasant  a  picture  to  be  the  real  one.  A  woman, 
the  wife  of  a  high  priest,  left  upon  her  tomb- 
stone the  following  inscription,  addressed  to  her 
husband  : — 

"0,  brother,  husband,  friend,"  she  says,  "thy  desire  to 
drink  and  to  eat  hath  not  ceased.  Therefore  be  drunken, 
enjoy  the  love  of  women — make  holiday.  Follow  thy  desire 
by  night  and  by  day.  Put  not  care  within  thy  heart.  Lo ! 
are  not  these  the  years  of  thy  life  upon  earth  ?  For  as  for 
the  Underworld,  it  is  a  land  of  slumber  and  heavy  dark- 
ness, a  resting-place  for  those  who  have  passed  within  it. 
Each  sleepeth  there  in  his  own  form,  they  never  awake 
to  see  their  fellows,  they  behold  not  their  fathers  nor 
their  mothers,  their  heart  is  careless  of  their  wives  and 
children." 

She  knows  that  she  will  be  too  deeply  steeped  in 
the  stupor  of  the  Underworld  to  remember  her 
husband,  and  unselfishly  she  urges  him  to  continue 
to  be  happy  after  the  manner  of  his  nation.  Then, 
in  a  passage  which  rings  down  the  years  in  its 
terrible  beauty,  she  tells  of  her  utter  despair,  lying 
in  the  gloomy  Underworld,  suffocated  with  the 
mummy  bandages,  and  craving  for  the  light,  the 
laughter,  and  the  coolness  of  the  day. 

"  The  water  of  life,"  she  cries,  "  with  which  every  mouth 
is  moistened,  is  corruption  to  me,  the  water  that  is  by  me 
corrupteth  me.  I  know  not  what  to  do  since  I  came  into 
this  valley.  Give  me  running  water,  say  to  me,  'Water 
shall  not  cease  to  be  brought  to  thee.'  Turn  my  face  to  the 
north  wind  upon  the  edge  of  the  water.  Verily  thus  shall 
my  heart  be  cooled  and  refreshed  from  its  pain." 

It  is,  however,  the  glory  of  life,  rather  than  the 


Temperament  of  Ancient  Egyptians.    1 1 1 


horror  of  death,  which  is  the  dominant  note  in  the 
inscriptions  and  reliefs.  The  scenes  in  the  tomb 
decorations  seem  to  cry  out  for  very  joy.  The 
artist  has  imprisoned  in  his  representations  as 
much  sheer  happiness  as  was  ever  infused  into 
cold  stone.  One  sees  there  the  gazelle  leaping 
over  the  hills  as  the  sun  rises,  the  birds  flapping 
their  wings  and  singing,  the  wild  duck  rising  from 
the  marshes,  and  the  butterflies  flashing  overhead. 
The  fundamental  joy  of  living — that  gaiety  of  life 
which  the  human  being  may  feel  in  common  with 
the  animals — is  shown  in  these  scenes  as  clearly  as 
is  the  merriment  in  the  representations  of  feasts 
and  dancing.  In  these  paintings  and  reliefs  one 
finds  an  exact  illustration  to  the  joyful  exhorta- 
tion of  the  Psalmist  as  he  cries,  "  Let  the  heavens 
rejoice,  and  let  the  earth  be  glad ;  ...  let  the 
fields  be  joyful,  and  all  that  is  therein."  In  a  land 
where,  to  quote  one  of  their  own  poems,  "  the  tanks 
are  full  of  water  and  the  earth  overflows  with 
love,"  where  "  the  cool  north  wind  "  blows  merrily 
over  the  fields,  and  the  sun  never  ceases  to  shine, 
it  would  be  a  remarkable  phenomenon  if  the  ancient 
Egyptians  had  not  developed  the  sanguine  tempera- 
ment. The  foregoing  pages  have  shown  them  at 
their  feasts,  in  their  daily  occupations,  and  in  their 
sports,  and  the  reader  will  find  that  it  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  describe  them,  in  the  borrowed  words  of 
the  old  geographer,  as  a  people  always  gay  and 
often  frivolous,  and  never  -  ceasingly  "fond  of 
dancing  and  red  wine." 


112 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  MISFORTUNES  OF  WENAMON. 

In  the  third  chapter  of  this  book  it  has  been  shown 
that  the  archaeologist  is,  to  some  extent,  enamoured 
of  the  Past  because  it  can  add  to  the  stock  of 
things  which  are  likely  to  tickle  the  fancy.  So 
humorous  a  man  is  he,  so  fond  of  the  good  things 
of  life,  so  stirred  by  its  adventures,  so  touched  by 
its  sorrows,  that  he  must  needs  go  to  the  Past  to 
replenish  his  supplies,  as  another  might  go  to  Paris 
or  Timbuctoo. 

Here,  then,  is  the  place  to  give  an  example  of 
the  entertainment  which  he  is  likely  to  find  in 
this  province  of  his ;  and  if  the  reader  can  detect 
any  smell  of  dust  or  hear  any  creak  of  dead  bones 
in  the  story  which  follows,  it  will  be  a  matter  of 
surprise  to  me. 

In  the  year  1891,  at  a  small  village  in  Upper 
Egypt  named  El  Hibeh,  some  natives  unearthed  a 
much  damaged  roll  of  papyrus  which  appeared  to 
them  to  be  very  ancient.  Since  they  had  heard 
that  antiquities  have  a  market  value  they  did  not 
burn  it  along  with  whatever  other  scraps  of  inflam- 


The  Misfortunes  of  Wenamon.  113 


mable  material  they  had  collected  for  their  evening 
fire,  but  preserved  it,  and  finally  took  it  to  a  dealer, 
who  gave  them  in  exchange  for  it  a  small  sum  of 
money.  From  the  dealer's  hands  it  passed  into  the 
possession  of  Monsieur  GolenischefT,  a  Russian 
Egyptologist,  who  happened  at  the  time  to  be 
travelling  in  Egypt ;  and  by  him  it  was  carried 
to  St  Petersburg,  where  it  now  rests.  This 
savant  presently  published  a  translation  of  the 
document,  which  at  once  caused  a  sensation  in 
the  Egyptological  world ;  and  during  the  next 
few  years  four  amended  translations  were  made 
by  different  scholars.  The  interest  shown  in  this 
tattered  roll  was  due  to  the  fact  that  it  had  been 
found  to  contain  the  actual  report  written  by  an 
official  named  Wenamon  to  his  chief,  the  High 
Priest  of  Amon-Ra,  relating  his  adventures  in  the 
Mediterranean  while  procuring  cedar-wood  from 
the  forests  of  Lebanon.  The  story  which  Wena- 
mon tells  is  of  the  greatest  value  to  Egyptology, 
giving  as  it  does  a  vivid  account  of  the  political 
conditions  obtaining  in  Syria  and  Egypt  during 
the  reign  of  the  Pharaoh  Rameses  XII.;  but  it  also 
has  a  very  human  interest,  and  the  misfortunes  of 
the  writer  may  excite  one's  sympathy  and  amuse- 
ment, after  this  lapse  of  three  thousand  years,  as 
though  they  had  occurred  at  the  present  time. 

In  the  time  at  which  Wenamon  wrote  his  report 
Egypt  had  fallen  on  evil  days.  A  long  line  of 
incapable  descendants  of  the  great  Rameses  II. 
and  Rameses  III.  had  ruled  the  Nile  valley ;  and 

H 


ii4 


Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


now  a  wretched  ghost  of  a  Pharaoh,  Rameses  XII., 
sat  upon  the  throne,  bereft  of  all  power,  a  ruler  in 
name  only.  The  government  of  the  country  lay  in 
the  hands  of  two  great  nobles  :  in  Upper  Egypt, 
Herhor,  High  Priest  of  Amon-Ra,  was  undisputed 
master ;  and  in  Lower  Egypt,  Nesubanebded,  a 
prince  of  the  city  of  Tanis  (the  Zoan  of  the  Bible), 
virtually  ruled  as  king  of  the  Delta.  Both  these 
persons  ultimately  ascended  the  throne  of  the 
Pharaohs ;  but  at  the  time  of  Wenamon's  adven- 
tures the  High  Priest  was  the  more  powerful  of 
the  two,  and  could  command  the  obedience  of 
the  northern  ruler,  at  any  rate  in  all  sacerdotal 
matters.  The  priesthood  of  Amon-Ra  was  the 
greatest  political  factor  in  Egyptian  life.  That 
god's  name  was  respected  even  in  the  courts  of 
Syria,  and  though  his  power  was  now  on  the 
wane,  fifty  years  previously  the  great  religious 
body  which  bowed  the  knee  to  him  was  feared 
throughout  all  the  countries  neighbouring  to 
Egypt.  The  main  cause  of  Wenamon's  troubles 
was  the  lack  of  appreciation  of  this  fact  that  the 
god's  influence  in  Syria  was  not  as  great  as  it  had 
been  in  the  past ;  and  this  report  would  certainly 
not  have  been  worth  recording  here  if  he  had 
realised  that  prestige  is,  of  all  factors  in  inter- 
national relations,  the  least  reliable. 

In  the  year  1113  B.C.  the  High  Priest  undertook 
the  construction  of  a  ceremonial  barge  in  which 
the  image  of  the  god  might  be  floated  upon  the 
sacred  waters  of  the  Nile  during  the  great  religious 


The  Misfortunes  of  Wenamon.  115 


festivals  at  Thebes ;  and  for  this  purpose  he  found 
himself  in  need  of  a  large  amount  of  cedar-wood 
of  the  best  quality.  He  therefore  sent  for  Wena- 
mon, who  held  the  sacerdotal  title  of  "  Eldest  of 
the  Hall  of  the  Temple  of  Amon,"  and  instructed 
him  to  proceed  to  the  Lebanon  to  procure  the 
timber.  It  is  evident  that  Wenamon  was  no 
traveller,  and  we  may  perhaps  be  permitted  to 
picture  him  as  a  rather  portly  gentleman  of  middle 
age,  not  wanting  either  in  energy  or  pluck,  but 
given,  like  some  of  his  countrymen,  to  a  fluctua- 
tion of  the  emotions  which  would  jump  him  from 
smiles  to  tears,  from  hope  to  despair,  in  a  manner 
amazing  to  any  but  an  Egyptian.  To  us  he  often 
appears  as  an  overgrown  baby,  and  his  misfortunes 
have  a  farcical  nature  which  makes  its  appeal  as 
much  through  the  medium  of  one's  love  of  the 
ludicrous  as  through  that  of  one's  interest  in  the 
romance  of  adventure.  Those  who  are  acquainted 
with  Egypt  will  see  in  him  one  of  the  types  of  naif, 
delightful  children  of  the  Nile,  whose  decorous  in- 
troduction into  the  parlour  of  the  nations  of  to-day 
is  requiring  such  careful  rehearsal. 

For  his  journey  the  High  Priest  gave  Wenamon 
a  sum  of  money,  and  as  credentials  he  handed  him 
a  number  of  letters  addressed  to  Egyptian  and 
Syrian  princes,  and  intrusted  to  his  care  a  par- 
ticularly sacred  little  image  of  Amon-Ra,  known 
as  Amon-of-the-Road,  which  had  probably  accom- 
panied other  envoys  to  the  Kingdoms  of  the  Sea 
in  times  past,  and  would  be  recognised  as  a 


n6         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 

token  of  the  official  nature  of  any  embassy  which 
carried  it. 

Thus  armed  Wenamon  set  out  from  El  Hibeh — 
probably  the  ancient  Hetbennu,  the  capital  of  the 
Eighteenth  Province  of  Upper  Egypt  —  on  the 
sixteenth  day  of  the  eleventh  month  of  the  fifth 
year  of  the  reign  of  Rameses  XII.  (1113  B.C.), 
and  travelled  down  the  Nile  by  boat  to  Tanis, 
a  distance  of  some  200  miles.  On  his  arrival 
at  this  fair  city  of  the  Delta,  whose  temples 
and  palaces  rose  on  the  borders  of  the  swamps 
at  the  edge  of  the  sea,  Wenamon  made  his  way 
to  the  palace  of  Nesubanebded,  and  handed  to  him 
the  letters  which  he  had  received  from  the  High 
Priest.  These  were  caused  to  be  read  aloud ;  and 
Nesubanebded,  hearing  that  Wenamon  was  desirous 
of  reaching  the  Lebanon  as  soon  as  possible,  made 
the  necessary  arrangements  for  his  immediate  de- 
spatch upon  a  vessel  which  happened  then  to  be 
lying  at  the  quay  under  the  command  of  a  Syrian 
skipper  named  Mengebet,  who  was  about  to  set 
out  for  the  Asiatic  coast.  On  the  first  day  of  the 
twelfth  month,  that  is  to  say  fourteen  days  after 
his  departure  from  his  native  town,  Wenamon  set 
sail  from  Tanis,  crossing  the  swamps  and  heading- 
out  into  "  the  Great  Syrian  Sea." 

The  voyage  over  the  blue  rippling  Mediterranean 
was  calm  and  prosperous  as  the  good  ship  sailed 
along  the  barren  shores  of  the  land  of  the  Shasu, 
along  the  more  mountainous  coast  of  Edom,  and 
thence  northwards  past  the  cities  of  Askalon 


The  Misfortunes  of  Wenamon.  117 


and  Ashdod.  To  Wenamon,  however,  the  journey 
was  fraught  with  anxiety.  He  was  full  of  fears  as 
to  his  reception  in  Syria,  for  the  first  of  his  mis- 
fortunes had  befallen  him.  Although  he  had  with 
him  both  money  and  the  image  of  Amon-of-the 
Road,  in  the  excitement  and  hurry  of  his  departure 
he  had  entirely  forgotten  to  obtain  again  the 
bundle  of  letters  of  introduction  which  he  had 
given  Nesubanebded  to  read ;  and  thus  there  were 
grave  reasons  for  supposing  that  his  mission  might 
prove  a  complete  failure.  Mengebet  was  evidently 
a  stern  old  salt  who  cared  not  a  snap  of  the  fingers 
for  Anion  or  his  envoy,  and  whose  one  desire  was 
to  reach  his  destination  as  rapidly  as  wind  and  oars 
would  permit ;  and  it  is  probable  that  he  refused 
bluntly  to  return  to  Tanis  when  Wenamon  in- 
formed him  of  the  oversight.  This  and  the  inher- 
ent distrust  of  an  Egyptian  for  a  foreigner  led 
Wenamon  to  regard  the  captain  and  his  men  with 
suspicion ;  and  one  must  imagine  him  seated  in 
the  rough  deck-cabin  gloomily  guarding  the  divine 
image  and  his  store  of  money.  He  had  with  him 
a  secretary  and  probably  two  or  three  servants ; 
and  one  may  picture  these  unfortunates  anxiously 
watching  the  Syrian  crew  as  they  slouched  about 
the  deck.  It  is  further  to  be  remembered  that, 
as  a  general  rule,  the  Egyptians  are  most  extremely 
bad  sailors. 

After  some  days  the  ship  arrived  at  the  little 
city  of  Dor,  which  nestled  at  the  foot  of  the  Ridge 
of  Carmel ;   and  here  they  put  in  to  replenish 


n8         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 

their  supplies.  Wenamon  states  in  his  report  that 
Dor  was  at  this  time  a  city  of  the  Thekel  or 
Sicilians,  some  wandering  band  of  sea-rovers  hav- 
ing left  their  native  Sicily  to  settle  here,  at  first 
under  the  protection  of  the  Egyptians,  but  now 
independent  of  them.  The  King  of  Dor,  by  name 
Bedel,  hearing  that  an  envoy  of  the  High  Priest  of 
Amon-Ra  had  arrived  in  his  harbour,  very  politely 
sent  down  to  him  a  joint  of  beef,  some  loaves  of 
bread,  and  a  jar  of  wine,  upon  which  Wenamon 
must  have  set  to  with  an  appetite,  after  subsisting 
upon  the  scanty  rations  of  the  sea  for  so  long  a 
time. 

It  may  be  that  the  wine  was  more  potent  than 
that  to  which  the  Egyptian  was  accustomed ;  or 
perhaps  the  white  buildings  of  the  city,  glistening 
in  the  sunlight,  and  the  busy  quays,  engrossed  his 
attention  too  completely  ;  anyhow,  the  second  of 
his  misfortunes  now  befel  him.  One  of  the  Syrian 
sailors  seized  the  opportunity  to  slip  into  his  cabin 
and  to  steal  the  money  which  was  hidden  there. 
Before  Wenamon  had  detected  the  robbery  the 
sailor  had  disappeared  for  ever  amidst  the  nouses 
of  Dor.  That  evening  the  distracted  envoy, 
seated  upon  the  floor  of  his  cabin,  was  obliged 
to  chronicle  the  list  of  stolen  money,  which  list 
was  afterwards  incorporated  in  his  report  in  the 
following  manner  : — 

One  vessel  containing  gold  amounting  to        .     5  debens. 
Four  vessels  containing  silver  amounting  to    .    20  „ 
One  wallet  containing  silver  amounting  to      .11  „ 

Total  of  what  was  stolen :  gold,  5  debens ;  silver,  31  debens. 


Pl.  xii. 


The  Misfortunes  of  Wenamon.  119 


A  deben  weighed  about  100  grammes,  and  thus 
the  robber  was  richer  by  500  grammes  of  gold, 
which  in  those  days  would  have  the  purchasing 
value  of  about  £600  in  our  money,  and  3100 
grammes  of  silver,  equal  to  about  £2200. 1 

Wenamon  must  have  slept  little  that  night,  and 
early  on  the  following  morning  he  hastened  to  the 
palace  of  King  Bedel  to  lay  his  case  before  him. 
Fortunately  Bedel  did  not  ask  him  for  his  creden- 
tials, but  with  the  utmost  politeness  he  gave 
his  consideration  to  the  affair.  Wenamon's  words, 
however,  were  by  no  means  polite,  and  one  finds 
in  them  a  blustering  assurance  which  suggests  that 
he  considered  himself  a  personage  of  extreme  con- 
sequence, and  regarded  a  King  of  Dor  as  nothing 
in  comparison  with  an  envoy  of  Amon-Ba. 

"  I  have  been  robbed  in  your  harbour,"  he  cried, 
so  he  tells  us  in  the  report,  "  and,  since  you  are 
the  king  of  this  land,  you  must  be  regarded  as 
a  party  to  the  crime.  You  must  search  for  my 
money.  The  money  belongs  to  Nesubanebded, 
and  it  belongs  to  Herhor,  my  lord"  (no  mention, 
observe,  of  the  wretched  Barneses  XII. ),  "and 
to  the  other  nobles  of  Egypt.  It  belongs  also 
to  Weret,  and  to  Mekmel,  and  to  Zakar-Baal 
the  Prince  of  By  bios." 2  These  latter  were  the 
persons  to  whom  it  was  to  be  paid. 

The  King  of  Dor  listened  to  this  outburst 
with  Sicilian  politeness,  and  replied  in  the  fol- 

1  See  Weigall :  Catalogue  of  Weights  and  Balances  in  the  Cairo 
Museum,  p.  ivi. 

2  The  translation  is  based  on  that  of  Prof.  Breasted. 


120         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


lowing  very  correct  terms  :  "  With  all  due  re- 
spect to  your  honour  and  excellency,"  he  said, 
"  I  know  nothing  of  this  complaint  which  you 
have  lodged  with  me.  If  the  thief  belonged  to 
my  land  and  went  on  board  your  ship  in  order 
to  steal  your  money,  I  would  advance  you  the 
sum  from  my  treasury  while  they  were  finding 
the  culprit.  But  the  thief  wTho  robbed  you  be- 
longed to  your  ship.  Tarry,  however,  a  few  days 
here  with  me  and  I  will  seek  him." 

Wenamon,  therefore,  strode  back  to  the  vessel, 
and  there  remained,  fuming  and  fretting,  for  nine 
long  days.  The  skipper  Mengebet,  however,  had 
no  reason  to  remain  at  Dor,  and  seems  to  have 
told  Wenamon  that  he  could  wait  no  longer. 
On  the  tenth  day,  therefore,  Wenamon  retraced 
his  steps  to  the  palace,  and  addressed  himself  once 
more  to  BedeL  "Look,"  he  said  to  the  king, 
when  he  was  ushered  into  the  royal  presence, 
"you  have  not  found  my  money,  and  therefore 
you  had  better  let  me  go  with  my  ship's  captain 
and  with  those  .  .  "  The  rest  of  the  interview 
is  lost  in  a  lacuna,  and  practically  the  only  words 
which  the  damaged  condition  of  the  papyrus  per- 
mits one  now  to  read  are,  "  He  said,  '  Be  silent ! '  " 
which  indicates  that  even  the  patience  of  a  King 
of  Dor  could  be  exhausted. 

When  the  narrative  is  able  to  be  resumed  one 
finds  that  Wenamon  has  set  sail  from  the  city, 
and  has  travelled  along  the  coast  to  the  proud 
city  of  Tyre,  where  he  arrived  one  afternoon 


The  Misfortunes  of  Wenamon.  121 


penniless  and  letterless,  having  now  nothing  left 
but  the  little  Amon-of-the-Road  and  his  own 
audacity.  The  charms  of  Tyre,  then  one  of  the 
great  ports  of  the  civilised  world,  were  of  no  con- 
sequence to  the  destitute  Egyptian,  nor  do  they 
seem  to  have  attracted  the  skipper  of  his  ship, 
who,  after  his  long  delay  at  Dor,  was  in  no 
mood  to  linger.  At  dawn  the  next  morning, 
therefore,  the  journey  was  continued,  and  once 
more  an  unfortunate  lacuna  interrupts  the  pas- 
sage of  the  report.  From  the  tattered  fragments 
of  the  writing,  however,  it  seems  that  at  the  next 
port  of  call — perhaps  the  city  of  Sidon — a  party 
of  inoffensive  Sicilian  merchants  was  encountered, 
and  immediately  the  desperate  Wenamon  hatched 
a  daring  plot.  By  this  time  he  had  come  to  place 
some  trust  in  Mengebet,  the  skipper,  who,  for  the 
sake  of  his  own  good  standing  in  Egypt,  had  shown 
himself  willing  to  help  the  envoy  of  Amon-Ra  in 
his  troubles,  although  he  would  not  go  so  far  as  to 
delay  his  journey  for  him  ;  and  Wenamon  therefore 
admitted  him  to  his  councils.  On  some  pretext  or 
other  a  party  led  by  the  Egyptian  paid  a  visit 
to  these  merchants  and  entered  into  conversation 
with  them.  Then,  suddenly  overpowering  them, 
a  rush  was  made  for  their  cash-box,  which  Wena- 
mon at  once  burst  open.  To  his  disappointment 
he  found  it  to  contain  only  thirty-one  debens 
of  silver,  which  happened  to  be  precisely  the 
amount  of  silver,  though  not  of  gold,  which  he 
had  lost.    This  sum  he  pocketed,  saying  to  the 


122 


Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


struggling  merchants  as  he  did  so,  "I  will  take 
this  money  of  yours,  and  will  keep  it  until  you 
find  my  money.  Was  it  not  a  Sicilian  who  stole 
it,  and  no  thief  of  ours  ?    I  will  take  it." 

With  these  words  the  party  raced  back  to  the 
ship,  scrambled  on  board,  and  in  a  few  moments 
had  hoisted  sail  and  were  scudding  northwards 
towards  By  bios,  where  Wenamon  proposed  to 
throw  himself  on  the  mercy  of  Zakar-Baal,  the 
prince  of  that  city.  Wenamon,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered, had  always  considered  that  he  had  been 
robbed  by  a  Sicilian  of  Dor,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  only  a  sailor  of  his  own  ship  could  have 
known  of  the  existence  of  the  money,  as  King 
Bedel  seems  to  have  pointed  out  to  him.  The 
Egyptian,  therefore,  did  not  regard  this  forcible 
seizure  of  silver  from  these  other  Sicilians  as  a 
crime.  It  was  a  perfectly  just  appropriation  of 
a  portion  of  the  funds  which  belonged  to  him  by 
rights.  Let  us  imagine  ourselves  robbed  at  our 
hotel  by  Hans  the  German  waiter  :  it  would  surely 
give  us  the  most  profound  satisfaction  to  take 
Herr  SchnupfendorfF,  the  piano  -  tuner,  by  the 
throat  when  next  he  visited  us,  and  go  through 
his  pockets.  He  and  Hans,  being  of  the  same 
nationality,  must  suffer  for  one  another's  sins,  and 
if  the  magistrate  thinks  otherwise  he  must  be 
regarded  as  prejudiced  by  too  much  study  of 
the  law. 

Byblos  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  hills  of  Lebanon, 
m  the  very  shadow  of  the  great  cedars,  and  it  was 


The  Misfortunes  of  Wenamon.  123 


therefore  Wenamon's  destination.  Now,  however, 
as  the  ship  dropped  anchor  in  the  harbour,  the 
Egyptian  realised  that  his  mission  would  probably 
be  fruitless,  and  that  he  himself  would  perhaps 
be  flung  into  prison  for  illegally  having  in  his 
possession  the  famous  image  of  the  god  to  which 
he  could  show  no  written  right.  Moreover,  the 
news  of  the  robbery  of  the  merchants  might  well 
have  reached  Byblos  overland.  His  first  action, 
therefore,  was  to  conceal  the  idol  and  the  money ; 
and  this  having  been  accomplished  he  sat  himself 
down  in  his  cabin  to  await  events. 

The  Prince  of  Byblos  certainly  had  been  advised 
of  the  robbery  ;  and  as  soon  as  the  news  of  the 
ship's  arrival  was  reported  to  him  he  sent  a  curt 
message  to  the  captain  saying  simply,  "  Get  out 
of  my  harbour."  At  this  Wenamon  gave  up  all 
hope,  and,  hearing  that  there  was  then  in  port 
a  vessel  which  was  about  to  sail  for  Egypt,  he 
sent  a  pathetic  message  to  the  prince  asking 
whether  he  might  be  allowed  to  travel  by  it 
back  to  his  own  country. 

No  satisfactory  answer  was  received,  and  for 
the  best  part  of  a  month  Wenamon's  ship  rode 
at  anchor,  while  the  distracted  envoy  paced  the 
deck,  vainly  pondering  upon  a  fitting  course  of 
action.  Each  morning  the  same  brief  order,  "  Get 
out  of  my  harbour,"  was  delivered  to  him  by  the 
harbour-master  ;  but  the  indecision  of  the  authori- 
ties as  to  how  to  treat  this  Egyptian  official  pre- 
vented the  order  being  backed  by  force.  Mean- 


124         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


while  Wenamon  and  Mengebet  judiciously  spread 
through  the  city  the  report  of  the  power  of  Amon- 
of-the-Road,  and  hinted  darkly  at  the  wrath  which 
would  ultimately  fall  upon  the  heads  of  those  who 
suffered  the  image  and  its  keeper  to  be  turned 
away  from  the  quays  of  By  bios.  No  doubt,  also, 
a  portion  of  the  stolen  debens  of  silver  was  ex- 
pended in  bribes  to  the  priests  of  the  city,  for,  as 
we  shall  presently  see,  one  of  them  took  up  Wen- 
amon's  cause  with  the  most  unnatural  vigour. 

All,  however,  seemed  to  be  of  no  avail,  and 
Wenamon  decided  to  get  away  as  best  he  could. 
His  worldly  goods  were  quietly  transferred  to  the 
ship  which  was  bound  for  the  Nile ;  and,  when 
night  had  fallen,  with  Amon-of-the-Road  tucked 
under  his  arm,  he  hurried  along  the  deserted  quay. 
Suddenly  out  of  the  darkness  there  appeared  a 
group  of  figures,  and  Wenamon  found  himself  con* 
fronted  by  the  stalwart  harbour-master  and  his 
police.  Now,  indeed,  he  gave  himself  up  for  lost. 
The  image  would  be  taken  from  him,  and  no 
longer  would  he  have  the  alternative  of  leaving 
the  harbour.  He  must  have  groaned  aloud  as  he 
stood  there  in  the  black  night,  with  the  cold  sea 
wind  threatening  to  tear  the  covers  from  the 
treasure  under  his  arm.  His  surprise,  therefore, 
was  unbounded  when  the  harbour  -  master  ad- 
dressed him  in  the  following  words :  "  Remain 
until  morning  here  near  the  prince." 

The  Egyptian  turned  upon  him  fiercely.  "  Are 
you  not  the  man  who  came  to  me  every  day 


The  Misfortunes  of  Wenamon.  125 


saying,  "  Get  out  of  my  harbour  ? "  he  cried. 
"  And  now  are  you  not  saying,  *  Remain  in 
By  bios  ? '  your  object  being  to  let  this  ship  which 
I  have  found  depart  for  Egypt  without  me,  so 
that  you  may  come  to  me  again  and  say, 
4  Go  away.'" 

The  harbour-master  in  reality  had  been  ordered 
to  detain  Wenamon  for  quite  another  reason.  On 
the  previous  day,  while  the  prince  was  sacrificing 
to  his  gods,  one  of  the  noble  youths  in  his  train, 
who  had  probably  seen  the  colour  of  Wenamon  s 
debens,  suddenly  broke  into  a  religious  frenzy, 
and  so  continued  all  that  day,  and  far  into  the 
night,  calling  incessantly  upon  those  around  him 
to  go  and  fetch  the  envov  of  Amon-Ra  and  the 
sacred  image.  Prince  Zakar-Baal  had  considered 
it  prudent  to  obey  this  apparently  divine  com- 
mand, and  had  sent  the  harbour-master  to  prevent 
Wenamon's  departure.  Finding,  however,  that 
the  Egyptian  was  determined  to  board  the  ship, 
the  official  sent  a  messenger  to  the  prince,  who 
replied  with  an  order  to  the  skipper  of  the  vessel 
to  remain  that  night  in  harbour. 

Upon  the  following  morning  a  deputation,  evi- 
dently friendly,  waited  on  Wenamon,  and  urged 
him  to  come  to  the  palace,  which  he  finally  did, 
incidentally  attending  on  his  way  the  morning 
service  which  was  being  celebrated  upon  the  sea- 
shore. "  I  found  the  prince,"  writes  Wenamon  in 
his  report,  "  sitting  in  his  upper  chamber,  leaning 
his  back  against  a  window,  while  the  waves  of  the 


126         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


Great  Syrian  Sea  beat  against  the  wall  below.  I 
said  to  him,  1  The  mercy  of  Amon  be  with  you ! 1 
He  said  to  me,  '  How  long  is  it  from  now  since 
you  left  the  abode  of  Amon?'  I  replied,  'Five 
months  and  one  day  from  now.' " 

The  prince  then  said,  "  Look  now,  if  what  you 
say  is  true,  where  is  the  writing  of  Amon  which 
should  be  in  your  hand  ?  Where  is  the  letter  of 
the  High  Priest  of  Amon  which  should  be  in 
your  hand  ?  " 

"I  gave  them  to  Nesubanebded,"  replied 
Wenamon. 

"  Then,"  says  Wenamon,  "  he  was  very  wroth, 
and  he  said  to  me,  1  Look  here,  the  writings  and 
the  letters  are  not  in  your  hand.  And  where  is 
the  fine  ship  which  Nesubanebded  would  have 
given  you,  and  where  is  its  picked  Syrian  crew  ? 
He  would  not  put  you  and  your  affairs  in  the 
charge  of  this  skipper  of  yours,  who  might  have 
had  you  killed  and  thrown  into  the  sea.  Whom 
would  they  have  sought  the  god  from  then  ? — and 
you,  whom  would  they  have  sought  you  from 
then  ? '  So  said  he  to  me,  and  I  replied  to  him, 
1  There  are  indeed  Egyptian  ships  and  Egyptian 
crews  that  sail  under  Nesubanebded,  but  he  had  at 
the  time  no  ship  and  no  Syrian  crew  to  give  me.'" 

The  prince  did  not  accept  this  as  a  satisfactory 
answer,  but  pointed  out  that  there  were  ten 
thousand  ships  sailing  between  Egypt  and 
Syria,  of  which  number  there  must  have  been 
one  at  Nesubanebded's  disposal. 


The  Misfortunes  of  Wenamon.  127 


"  Then,"  writes  Wenamon,  "  I  was  silent  in 
this  great  hour.  At  length  he  said  to  me,  '  On 
what  business  have  you  come  here  ? 1  I  replied,  '  I 
have  come  to  get  wood  for  the  great  and  august 
barge  of  Anion  -  Ha,  king  of  the  gods.  Your 
father  supplied  it,  your  grandfather  did  so,  and 
you  too  shall  do  it.'    So  spoke  I  to  him." 

The  prince  admitted  that  his  fathers  had  sent 
wood  to  Egypt,  but  he  pointed  out  that  they  had 
received  proper  remuneration  for  it.  He  then 
told  his  servants  to  go  and  find  the  old  ledger 
in  which  the  transactions  were  recorded,  and  this 
being  done,  it  was  found  that  a  thousand  debens 
of  silver  had  been  paid  for  the  wood.  The  prince 
now  argued  that  he  was  in  no  way  the  servant 
of  Amon,  for  if  he  had  been  he  would  have  been 
obliged  to  supply  the  wood  without  remuneration. 
"I  am,"  he  proudly  declared,  "neither  your 
servant  nor  the  servant  of  him  who  sent  you 
here.  If  I  cry  out  to  the  Lebanon  the  heavens 
open  and  the  logs  lie  here  on  the  shore  of  the 
sea."  He  went  on  to  say  that  if,  of  his  condescen- 
sion, he  now  procured  the  timber  Wenamon  would 
have  to  provide  the  ships  and  all  the  tackle.  "  If 
I  make  the  sails  of  the  ships  for  you,"  said  the 
prince,  "they  may  be  top-heavy  and  may  break, 
and  you  will  perish  in  the  sea  when  Amon 
thunders  in  heaven ;  for  skilled  workmanship 
comes  only  from  Egypt  to  reach  my  place  of 
abode."  This  seems  to  have  upset  the  composure 
of  Wenamon  to  some  extent,  and  the  prince  took 


128         Studies  in  the  Treasury, 


advantage  of  his  uneasiness  to  say,  "  Anyway, 
what  is  this  miserable  expedition  that  they  have 
had  you  make  (without  money  or  equipment)  ? 99 
At  this  Wenamon  appears  to  have  lost  his 
temper.  "O  guilty  one!"  he  said  to  the  prince, 
"this  is  no  miserable  expedition  on  which  I  am 
engaged.  There  is  no  ship  upon  the  Nile  which 
Amon  does  not  own,  and  his  is  the  sea,  and  his 
this  Lebanon  of  which  you  say,  '  It  is  mine.'  Its 
forests  grow  for  the  barge  of  Amon,  the  lord  of 
every  ship.  Why  Amon-Ra  himself,  the  king 
of  the  gods,  said  to  Herhor,  my  lord,  1  Send  me '  ; 
and  Herhor  made  me  go  bearing  the  statue  of 
this  great  god.  Yet  see,  you  have  allowed  this 
great  god  to  wait  twenty-nine  days  after  he  had 
arrived  in  your  harbour,  although  you  certainly 
knew  he  was  there.  He  is  indeed  still  what  he 
once  was  :  yes,  now  while  you  stand  bargaining 
for  the  Lebanon  with  Amon  its  lord.  As  for 
Amon-Ra,  the  king  of  the  gods,  he  is  the  lord 
of  life  and  health,  and  he  was  the  lord  of  your 
fathers,  who  spent  their  lifetime  offering  to  him. 
You  also,  you  are  the  servant  of  Amon.  If  you 
will  say  to  Amon,  'I  will  do  this/  and  you  ex- 
ecute his  command,  you  shall  live  and  be  prosper- 
ous and  be  healthy,  and  you  shall  be  popular  with 
your  whole  country  and  people.  Wish  not  for 
yourself  a  thing  belonging  to  Amon-Ra,  king  of 
the  gods.  Truly  the  lion  loves  his  own !  Let 
my  secretary  be  brought  to  me  that  I  may  send 
him  to  Nesubanebded,  and  he  will  send  you  all 


The  Misfortunes  of  Wenamon.  129 


that  I  shall  ask  him  to  send,  after  which,  when  I 
return  to  the  south,  I  will  send  you  all,  all  your 
trifles  again." 

"  So  spake  I  to  him,"  says  Wenamon  in  his 
report,  as  with  a  flourish  of  his  pen  he  brings  this 
fine  speech  to  an  end.  No  doubt  it  would  have 
been  more  truthful  in  him  to  say,  "  So  would  I 
have  spoken  to  him  had  I  not  been  so  flustered  "  ; 
but  of  all  types  of  lie  this  is  probably  the  most 
excusable.  At  all  events,  he  said  sufficient  to 
induce  the  prince  to  send  his  secretary  to  Egypt ; 
and  as  a  token  of  good  faith  Zakar-Baal  sent  with 
him  seven  logs  of  cedar- wood.  In  forty -eight 
days'  time  the  messenger  returned,  bringing  with 
him  five  golden  and  five  silver  vases,  twenty 
garments  of  fine  linen,  500  rolls  of  papyrus,  500 
ox-hides,  500  coils  of  rope,  twenty  measures  of 
lentils,  and  five  measures  of  dried  fish.  At  this 
present  the  prince  expressed  himself  most  satisfied, 
and  immediately  sent  300  men  and  300  oxen  with 
proper  overseers  to  start  the  work  of  felling  the 
trees.  Some  eight  months  after  leaving  Tanis, 
Wenamon's  delighted  eyes  gazed  upon  the  com- 
plete number  of  logs  lying  at  the  edge  of  the 
sea,  ready  for  shipment  to  Egypt. 

The  task  being  finished,  the  prince  walked 
down  to  the  beach  to  inspect  the  timber,  and  he 
called  to  Wenamon  to  come  with  him.  When  the 
Egyptian  had  approached,  the  prince  pointed  to 
the  logs,  remarking  that  the  work  had  been  carried 
through  although  the  remuneration  had  not  been 

I 


130         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


nearly  so  great  as  that  which  his  fathers  had 
received.  Wenamon  was  about  to  reply  when 
inadvertently  the  shadow  of  the  prince's  umbrella 
fell  upon  his  head.  What  memories  or  anticipa- 
tions this  trivial  incident  aroused  one  cannot 
now  tell  with  certainty.  One  of  the  gentlemen- 
in- waiting,  however,  found  cause  in  it  to  whisper 
to  Wenamon,  "  The  shadow  of  Pharaoh,  your 
lord,  falls  upon  you "  —  the  remark,  no  doubt, 
being  accompanied  by  a  sly  dig  in  the  ribs.  The 
prince  angrily  snapped,  "  Let  him  alone "  ;  and, 
with  the  picture  of  Wenamon  gloomily  staring 
out  to  sea,  we  are  left  to  worry  out  the  meaning 
of  the  occurrence.  It  may  be  that  the  prince 
intended  to  keep  Wenamon  at  Byblos  until  the 
uttermost  farthing  had  been  extracted  from  Egypt 
in  further  payment  for  the  wood,  and  that  there- 
fore he  was  to  be  regarded  henceforth  as  Wena- 
mon's  king  and  master.  This  is  perhaps  indicated 
by  the  following  remarks  of  the  prince. 

"  Do  not  thus  contemplate  the  terrors  of  the 
sea,"  he  said  to  Wenamon.  "  For  if  you  do  that 
you  should  also  contemplate  my  own.  Come,  I 
have  not  done  to  you  what  they  did  to  certain 
former  envoys.  They  spent  seventeen  years  in 
this  land,  and  they  died  where  they  were."  Then, 
turning  to  an  attendant,  "  Take  him,"  he  said, 
"and  let  him  see  the  tomb  in  which  they  lie." 

"  Oh,  don't  let  me  see  it,"  Wenamon  tells  us  that 
he  cried  in  anguish  ;  but,  recovering  his  composure, 
he  continued  in  a  more  valiant  strain.    "  Mere 


The  Misfortunes  of  Wenamon.  131 


human  beings,"  he  said,  "  were  the  envoys  who 
were  then  sent.  There  was  no  god  among  them 
(as  there  now  is)." 

The  prince  had  recently  ordered  an  engraver  to 
write  a  commemorative  inscription  upon  a  stone 
tablet  recording  the  fact  that  the  king  of  the 
gods  had  sent  Amon-of-the-Road  to  Byblos  as 
his  divine  messenger  and  Wenamon  as  his  human 
messenger,  that  timber  had  been  asked  for  and 
supplied,  and  that  in  return  Amon  had  promised 
him  ten  thousand  years  of  celestial  life  over  and 
above  that  of  ordinary  persons.  Wenamon  now 
reminded  him  of  this,  asking  him  why  he  should 
talk  so  slightingly  of  the  Egyptian  envoys  when 
the  making  of  this  tablet  showed  that  in  reality 
he  considered  their  presence  an  honour.  More- 
over, he  pointed  out  that  when  in  future  years 
an  envoy  from  Egypt  should  read  this  tablet,  he 
would  of  course  pronounce  at  once  the  magical 
prayers  which  would  procure  for  the  prince,  who 
would  probably  then  be  in  hell  after  all,  a  draught 
of  water.  This  remark  seems  to  have  tickled  the 
prince's  fancy,  for  he  gravely  acknowledged  its 
value,  and  spoke  no  more  in  his  former  strain. 
Wenamon  closed  the  interview  by  promising  that 
the  High  Priest  of  Amon-Ra  would  fully  reward 
him  for  his  various  kindnesses. 

Shortly  after  this  the  Egyptian  paid  another 
visit  to  the  sea-shore  to  feast  his  eyes  upon  the 
logs.  He  must  have  been  almost  unable  to  contain 
himself  in  the  delight  and  excitement  of  the  end- 


132         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


ing  of  his  task  and  his  approaching  return  in 
triumph  to  Egypt ;  and  we  may  see  him  jauntily 
walking  over  the  sand,  perhaps  humming  a  tune 
to  himself.  Suddenly  he  observed  a  fleet  of 
eleven  ships  sailing  towards  the  town,  and  the 
song  must  have  died  upon  his  lips.  As  they 
drew  nearer  he  saw  to  his  horror  that  they  be- 
longed to  the  Sicilians  of  Dor,  and  we  must  picture 
him  biting  his  nails  in  his  anxiety  as  he  stood 
amongst  the  logs.  Presently  they  were  within 
hailing  distance,  and  some  one  called  to  them 
asking  their  business.  The  reply  rang  across  the 
water,  brief  and  terrible :  "  Arrest  Wenamon ! 
Let  not  a  ship  of  his  pass  to  Egypt."  Hearing 
these  words  the  envoy  of  Amon-Ha,  king  of  the 
gods,  just  now  so  proudly  boasting,  threw  himself 
upon  the  sand  and  burst  into  tears. 

The  sobs  of  the  wretched  man  penetrated  to 
a  chamber  in  which  the  prince's  secretary  sat 
writing  at  the  open  window,  and  he  hurried 
over  to  the  prostrate  figure.  "  Whatever  is  the 
matter  with  you  1 "  he  said,  tapping  the  man  on 
the  shoulder. 

Wenamon  raised  his  head.  "Surely  you  see 
these  birds  which  descend  on  Egypt,"  he  groaned. 
"  Look  at  them !  They  have  come  into  the  har- 
bour, and  how  long  shall  I  be  left  forsaken  here  ? 
Truly  you  see  those  who  have  come  to  arrest  me." 

With  these  words  one  must  suppose  that  Wen- 
amon returned  to  his  weeping,  for  he  says  in  his 
report  that  the  sympathetic  secretary  went  off  to 


The  Misfortunes  of  Wenamon.  133 


find  the  prince  in  order  that  some  plan  of  action 
might  be  formulated.  When  the  news  was  reported 
to  Zakar-Baal,  he  too  began  to  lament;  for  the 
whole  affair  was  menacing  and  ugly.  Looking  out 
of  the  window  he  saw  the  Sicilian  ships  anchored 
as  a  barrier  across  the  mouth  of  the  harbour,  he 
saw  the  logs  of  cedar-wood  strewn  over  the  beach, 
he  saw  the  writhing  figure  of  Wenamon  pouring 
sand  and  dust  upon  his  head  and  drumming  feebly 
with  his  toes  ;  and  his  royal  heart  was  moved  with 
pity  for  the  misfortunes  of  the  Egyptian. 

Hastily  speaking  to  his  secretary,  he  told  him 
to  procure  two  large  jars  of  wine  and  a  ram,  and 
to  give  them  to  Wenamon  on  the  chance  that  they 
might  stop  the  noise  of  his  lamentations.  The 
secretary  and  his  servants  procured  these  things 
from  the  kitchen,  and,  tottering  down  with  them 
to  the  envoy,  placed  them  by  his  side.  "Wenamon, 
however,  merely  glanced  at  them  in  a  sickly 
manner,  and  then  buried  his  head  once  more.  The 
failure  must  have  been  observed  from  the  window 
of  the  palace,  for  the  prince  sent  another  servant 
flying  off  for  a  popular  Egyptian  lady  of  no  reputa- 
tion, who  happened  to  be  living  just  then  at  By  bios 
in  the  capacity  of  a  dancing-girl.  Presently  she 
minced  into  the  room,  very  much  elated,  no  doubt, 
at  this  indication  of  the  royal  favour.  The  prince 
at  once  ordered  her  to  hasten  down  on  to  the 
beach  to  comfort  her  countryman.  "Sing  to  him," 
he  said.    "  Don't  let  his  heart  feel  apprehension." 

Wenamon  seemed  to  have  waved  the  girl  aside, 


134         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


and  we  may  picture  the  prince  making  urgent 
signs  to  the  lady  from  his  window  to  renew  her 
efforts.  The  moans  of  the  miserable  man,  however, 
did  not  cease,  and  the  prince  had  recourse  to  a 
third  device.  This  time  he  sent  a  servant  to 
Wenamon  with  a  message  of  calm  assurance. 
"  Eat  and  drink/'  he  said,  "  and  let  not  your 
heart  feel  apprehension.  You  shall  hear  all  that 
I  have  to  say  in  the  morning."  At  this  Wenamon 
roused  himself,  and,  wiping  his  eyes,  consented  to 
be  led  back  to  his  rooms,  ever  turning,  no  doubt, 
to  cast  nervous  glances  in  the  direction  of  the 
silent  ships  of  Dor. 

On  the  following  morning  the  prince  sent  for 
the  leaders  of  the  Sicilians  and  asked  them  for 
what  reason  they  had  come  to  Byblos.  They 
replied  that  they  had  come  in  search  of  Wenamon, 
who  had  robbed  some  of  their  countrymen  of 
thirty  -  one  debens  of  silver.  The  prince  was 
placed  in  a  difficult  position,  for  he  was  desirous 
to  avoid  giving  offence  either  to  Dor  or  to  Egypt 
from  whence  he  now  expected  further  payment ; 
but  he  managed  to  pass  out  on  to  clearer  ground 
by  means  of  a  simple  stratagem. 

"  I  cannot  arrest  the  envoy  of  Amon  in  my 
territory,"  he  said  to  the  men  of  Dor.  "But  I 
will  send  him  away,  and  you  shall  pursue  him 
and  arrest  him." 

The  plan  seems  to  have  appealed  to  the  sporting 
instincts  of  the  Sicilians,  for  it  appears  that  they 
drew  off  from  the  harbour  to  await  their  quarry. 
Wenamon  was  then  informed  of  the  scheme,  and 


The  Misfortunes  of  Wenamon.  135 


one  may  suppose  that  he  showed  no  relish  for  it. 
To  be  chased  across  a  bilious  sea  by  sporting  men 
of  hardened  stomach  was  surely  a  torture  for  the 
damned ;  but  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  Zakar-Baal 
left  the  Egyptian  some  chance  of  escape.  Hastily 
he  was  conveyed  on  board  a  ship,  and  his  misery 
must  have  been  complete  when  he  observed  that 
outside  the  harbour  it  was  blowing  a  gale.  Hardly 
had  he  set  out  into  the  "  Great  Syrian  Sea"  before 
a  terrific  storm  burst,  and  in  the  confusion  which 
ensued  we  lose  sight  of  the  waiting  fleet.  No 
doubt  the  Sicilians  put  in  to  Byblos  once  more 
for  shelter,  and  deemed  Wenamon  at  the  bottom 
of  the  ocean  as  the  wind  whistled  through  their 
own  bare  rigging. 

The  Egyptian  had  planned  to  avoid  his  enemies 
by  beating  northwards  when  he  left  the  harbour, 
instead  of  southwards  towards  Egypt ;  but  the 
tempest  took  the  ships  course  into  its  own  hands 
and  drove  the  frail  craft  north-westwards  towards 
Cyprus,  the  wooded  shores  of  which  were,  in  course 
of  time,  sighted.  Wenamon  was  now  indeed  'twixt 
the  devil  and  the  deep  sea,  for  behind  him  the 
waves  raged  furiously,  and  before  him  he  per- 
ceived a  threatening  group  of  Cypriots  awaiting 
him  upon  the  wind-swept  shore.  Presently  the 
vessel  grounded  upon  the  beach,  and  immediately 
the  ill-starred  Egyptian  and  the  entire  crew  wrere 
prisoners  in  the  hands  of  a  hostile  mob.  Roughly 
they  were  dragged  to  the  capital  of  the  island, 
which  happened  to  be  but  a  few  miles  distant, 
and  with  ignominy  they  were  hustled,  wet  and 


136         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


bedraggled,  through  the  streets  towards  the  palace 
of  Hetebe,  the  Queen  of  Cyprus. 

As  they  neared  the  building  the  queen  herself 
passed  by,  surrounded  by  a  brave  company  of 
nobles  and  soldiers.  Wenamon  burst  away  from 
his  captors,  and  bowed  himself  before  the  royal 
lady,  crying  as  he  did  so,  "  Surely  there  is  some- 
body amongst  this  company  who  understands 
Egyptian."  One  of  the  nobles,  to  Wenamon's 
joy,  replied,  "  Yes,  I  understand  it." 

"  Say  to  my  mistress,"  cried  the  tattered  envoy, 
"  that  I  have  heard  even  in  far-off  Thebes,  the 
abode  of  Amon,  that  in  every  city  injustice  is 
done,  but  that  justice  obtains  in  the  land  of 
Cyprus.  Yet  see,  injustice  is  done  here  also  this 
day." 

This  was  repeated  to  the  queen,  who  replied, 
"  Indeed  ! — what  is  this  that  you  say  ?  " 

Through  the  interpreter  Wenamon  then  ad- 
dressed himself  to  Hetebe.  "  If  the  sea  raged," 
he  said,  "  and  the  wind  drove  me  to  the  land 
where  I  now  am,  will  you  let  these  people  take 
advantage  of  it  to  murder  me,  I  who  am  an 
envoy  of  Amon  ?  I  am  one  for  whom  they  will 
seek  unceasingly.  And  as  for  these  sailors  of  the 
prince  of  Byblos,  whom  they  also  wish  to  kill, 
their  lord  will  undoubtedly  capture  ten  crews 
of  yours,  and  will  slay  every  man  of  them  in 
revenge." 

This  seems  to  have  impressed  the  queen,  for 
she  ordered  the  mob  to  stand  on  one  side,  and 
to  Wenamon  she  said,  "  Pass  the  night.  .  .  ." 


The  Misfortunes  of  Wenamon.  137 


Here  the  torn  writing  comes  to  an  abrupt  end, 
and  the  remainder  of  Wenamon's  adventures  are 
for  ever  lost  amidst  the  dust  of  El  Hibeh.  One 
may  suppose  that  Hetebe  took  the  Egyptian  under 
her  protection,  and  that  ultimately  he  arrived  once 
more  in  Egypt,  whither  Zakar-Baal  had  perhaps 
already  sent  the  timber.  Returning  to  his  native 
town,  it  seems  that  Wenamon  wrote  his  report, 
which  for  some  reason  or  other  was  never  des- 
patched to  the  High  Priest.  Perhaps  the  envoy 
was  himself  sent  for,  and  thus  his  report  was 
rendered  useless ;  or  perhaps  our  text  is  one  of 
several  copies. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  he  was  a  writer 
of  great  power,  and  this  tale  of  his  adventures 
must  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  jewels  of  the 
ancient  Egyptian  language.  The  brief  descrip- 
tion of  the  Prince  of  Byblos,  seated  with  his  back 
to  the  window,  while  the  waves  beat  against  the 
wall  below,  brings  vividly  before  one  that  far-off 
scene,  and  reveals  a  lightness  of  touch  most  un- 
usual in  writers  of  that  time.  There  is  surely, 
too,  an  appreciation  of  a  delicate  form  of  humour 
observable  in  his  account  of  some  of  his  dealings 
with  the  prince.  It  is  appalling  to  think  that 
the  peasants  who  found  this  roll  of  papyrus  might 
have  used  it  as  fuel  for  their  evening  fire ;  and 
that,  had  not  a  drifting  rumour  of  the  value  of 
such  articles  reached  their  village,  this  little  tale 
of  old  Egypt  and  the  long-lost  Kingdoms  of  the 
Sea  would  have  gone  up  to  empty  heaven  in  a 
puff  of  smoke. 


138 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  STORY  OF  THE  SHIPWRECKED  SAILOR. 

When  the  early  Spanish  explorers  led  their  expe- 
ditions to  Florida,  it  was  their  intention  to  find 
the  Fountain  of  Perpetual  Youth,  tales  of  its 
potent  waters  having  reached  Peter  Martyr  as 
early  as  1511.  This  desire  to  discover  the  things 
pertaining  to  Fairyland  has  been,  throughout 
history,  one  of  the  most  fertile  sources  of  advent- 
ure. From  the  days  when  the  archaic  Egyptians 
penetrated  into  the  regions  south  of  the  Cataracts, 
where  they  believed  that  the  inhabitants  were 
other  than  human,  and  into  Pount,  the  "  Land  of 
the  Ghosts,"  the  hope  of  Fairyland  has  led  men  to 
search  the  face  of  the  earth  and  to  penetrate  into 
its  unknown  places.  It  has  been  the  theme  of 
countless  stories :  it  has  supplied  material  for 
innumerable  songs. 

And  in  spite  of  the  circumambulations  of  science 
about  us,  in  spite  of  the  hardening  of  all  the 
tissues  of  our  imagination,  in  spite  of  the  pheno- 
menal development  of  the  commonplace,  this  desire 
for  a  glimpse  of  the  miraculous  is  still  set  deeply 


Story  of  the  Shipwrecked  Sailor.  139 


in  our  hearts.  The  old  quest  of  Fairyland  is  as 
active  now  as  ever  it  was.  We  still  presume,  in 
our  unworthiness,  to  pass  the  barriers,  and  to  walk 
upon  those  paths  which  lead  to  the  enchanted 
forests  and  through  them  to  the  city  of  the  Moon. 
At  any  moment  we  are  ready  to  set  forth,  like 
Arthur's  knights,  in  search  of  the  Holy  Grail. 

The  explorer  who  penetrates  into  Central  Africa 
in  quest  of  King  Solomon's  mines  is  impelled  by  a 
hope  closely  akin  to  that  of  the  Spaniards.  The 
excavator  who  digs  for  the  buried  treasures  of  the 
Incas  or  of  the  Egyptians  is  often  led  by  a  desire 
for  the  fabulous.  Search  is  now  being  made  in  the 
western  desert  of  Egypt  for  a  lost  city  of  burnished 
copper ;  and  the  Anglo  -  Egyptian  official  is  con- 
stantly urged  by  credulous  natives  to  take  camels 
across  the  wilderness  in  quest  of  a  town  whose 
houses  and  temples  are  of  pure  gold.  What  arch- 
aeologist has  not  at  some  time  given  ear  to  the 
whispers  that  tell  of  long-lost  treasures,  of  for- 
gotten cities,  of  Atlantis  swallowed  by  the  sea  ? 
It  not  only  children  who  love  the  tales  of  Fairy- 
land. How  happily  we  have  read  Kipling's  1  Puck 
of  Pook's  Hill,'  De  la  Motte  Fouque's  1  Undine/ 
Kenneth  Grahame's  *  Wind  in  the  Willows/  or 
F.  W.  Bain's  Indian  stories.  The  recent  fairy 
plays — Barry's  "  Peter  Pan,"  Maeterlinck's  "  Blue 
Bird,"  and  the  like — have  been  enormously  suc- 
cessful. Say  what  we  will,  fairy  tales  still  hold 
their  old  power  over  us,  and  still  we  turn  to  them 
as  a  relief  from  the  commonplace. 


140         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


Some  of  us,  failing  to  find  Fairyland  upon  earth, 
have  transferred  it  to  the  kingdom  of  Death  ;  and 
it  has  become  the  hope  for  the  future.  Each 
Sunday  in  church  the  congregation  of  business 
men  and  hard-worked  women  set  aside  the  things 
of  their  monotonous  life,  and  sing  the  songs  of  the 
endless  search.  To  the  rolling  notes  of  the  organ 
they  tell  the  tale  of  the  Elysian  Fields  :  they  take 
their  unfilled  desire  for  Fairyland  and  adjust  it  to 
their  deathless  hope  of  Heaven.  They  sing  of 
crystal  fountains,  of  streets  paved  with  gold,  of 
meadows  dressed  with  living  green  where  they 
shall  dwell  as  children  who  now  as  exiles  mourn. 
There  everlasting  spring  abides  and  never-wither- 
ing flowers  ;  there  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand 
clad  in  sparkling  raiment  throng  up  the  steeps  of 
light.  Here  in  the  church  the  most  unimaginative 
people  cry  aloud  upon  their  God  for  Fairyland. 

"  The  roseate  hues  of  early  dawn, 

The  brightness  of  the  day, 
The  crimson  of  the  sunset  sky, 

How  fast  they  fade  away  ! 
Oh,  for  the  pearly  gates  of  Heaven, 

Oh,  for  the  golden  floor  .  .  ." 

They  know  no  way  of  picturing  the  incomprehen- 
sible state  of  the  future,  and  they  interpret  it, 
therefore,  in  terms  of  the  fairy  tale. 

I  am  inclined  to  think  that  this  sovereignty  of 
the  fairies  is  beneficial.  Fairy  tales  fill  the  minds 
of  the  young  with  knowledge  of  the  kindly  people 
who  will  reward  with  many  gifts  those  that  are 


Story  of  the  Shipwrecked  Sailor.  141 


charitable  to  the  old  ;  they  teach  a  code  of  chivalry 
that  brings  as  its  reward  the  love  of  the  beautiful 
princess  in  the  tower ;  they  tell  of  dangers  over- 
come by  courage  and  perseverance ;  they  suggest 
a  contact  with  nature  which  otherwise  might  never 
be  developed.  Where  angels  and  archangels  over- 
awe by  their  omnipotence,  the  microscopic  fairies 
who  can  sit  singing  upon  a  mushroom  and  dangle 
from  the  swaying  stem  of  a  bluebell,  carry  the 
thoughts  down  the  scale  of  life  to  the  little  and 
really  important  things.  A  sleepy  child  will  rather 
believe  that  the  Queen  of  the  Fairies  is  acting 
sentry  upon  the  knob  of  the  bedpost  than  that  an 
angel  stands  at  the  head  of  the  cot  with  great 
wings  spread  in  protection — wings  which  suggest 
the  probability  of  claws  and  a  beak  to  match. 

The  dragons  which  can  only  be  slain  by  the 
noble  knight,  the  enchantments  which  can  only 
be  broken  by  the  outwitting  of  the  evil  witch,  the 
lady  who  can  only  be  won  by  perils  bravely  en- 
dured, form  the  material  of  moral  lessons  which  no 
other  method  of  teaching  could  so  impress  upon 
the  youthful  mind. 

And  when  mature  years  are  attained  the  atmos- 
phere of  Fairyland  remains  with  us.  The  lost 
songs  of  the  little  people  drift  through  the  brain, 
recalling  the  infinite  possibilities  of  beauty  and 
goodness  which  are  so  slightly  out  of  reach  ;  the 
forgotten  wonder  of  elfs  and  brownies  suggests 
itself  to  us  from  the  heart  of  flowers  and  amidst 
the  leaves  of  trees.    The  clear  depths  of  the  sea 


142         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


take  half  their  charm  from  the  memory  of  the 
mermaid's  palace ;  the  silence  of  forests  is  rich 
with  the  expectancy  of  the  Knight  of  the  Golden 
Plume  ;  the  large  spaces  of  kitchens  and  corri- 
dors are  hushed  for  the  concealment  of  Robin 
Goodfellow. 

It  is  the  elusiveness,  the  enchantment,  of  Fairy- 
land which,  for  the  mature  mind,  constitutes  its 
greatest  value  and  charm  ;  it  is  a  man's  desire  for 
the  realms  of  Midsummer -night  that  makes  the 
building  of  those  realms  in  our  childhood  so  valu- 
able. We  are  constantly  endeavouring  to  recapture 
the  grace  of  that  intangible  kingdom,  and  the  hope 
of  ultimate  success  retains  the  elasticity  of  the 
mind.  Held  fast  by  the  stiffened  joints  of  reason 
and  closeted  with  the  gout  of  science,  we  are  fet- 
tered prisoners  in  the  world  unless  there  be  the 
knowledge  that  something  eludes  us  to  lead  us  on. 
We  know  quite  well  that  the  fairies  do  not  exist, 
but  at  the  same  time  we  cannot  deny  that  the 
elusive  atmosphere  of  Fairyland  is  one  with  that 
of  our  fondest  dreams. 

Who  has  not,  upon  a  grey  morning,  awakened 
from  sleep  with  the  knowledge  that  he  has  passed 
out  from  a  kingdom  of  dream  more  dear  than  all 
the  realms  of  real  life  ?  Vainly  we  endeavour  to 
recall  the  lost  details,  but  only  the  impression 
remains.  That  impression,  however,  warms  the 
tone  of  our  whole  day,  and  frames  our  thoughts  as 
it  were  with  precious  stones.  Thus  also  it  is  with 
the  memory  of  our  childhood's  idea  of  Fairyland  : 


Story  of  the  Shipwrecked  Sailor.  143 


the  impression  is  recalled,  the  brain  peers  forward, 
the  thoughts  go  on  tiptoe,  and  we  feel  that  we 
have  caught  a  glimpse  of  Beauty.  Indeed,  the 
recollection  of  the  atmosphere  created  in  our 
youthful  minds  by  means  of  fairy  tales  is  perhaps 
the  most  abundant  of  the  sources  of  our  knowledge 
of  Beauty  in  mature  years. 

I  do  not  suppose  that  I  am  alone  in  declaring 
that  some  of  the  most  tender  feelings  of  childhood 
are  inspired  by  the  misfortunes  of  the  Beast  in  the 
story  of"  Beauty  and  the  Beast"  ;  and  the  Sleep- 
ing Beauty  is  the  first  love  of  many  a  small  boy. 
Man,  from  his  youth  up,  craves  enchantment ;  and 
though  the  business  of  life  gives  him  no  oppor- 
tunity for  the  indulging  in  day-dreams,  there  are 
few  of  us  indeed  who  have  not  at  some  time  sought 
the  phantom  isles,  and  sought  in  vain.  There  is 
no  stormy  night,  when  the  wind  moans  through 
the  trees,  and  the  moon-rack  flies  overhead,  but 
takes  something  of  its  mystery  from  the  recollec- 
tion of  the  enchantments  of  the  dark  a^es.  The 
sun  does  not  sink  into  the  sea  amidst  the  low-lying 
clouds  but  some  vague  thought  is  brought  to  mind 
of  the  uncharted  island  whereon  that  maiden  lies 
sleeping  whose  hair  is  dark  as  heaven's  wrath,  and 
whose  breast  is  white  like  alabaster  in  the  pathway 
of  the  moon.  There  she  lies  in  the  charmed  circle 
under  the  trees,  where  none  may  enter  until  that 
hour  when  some  pale,  lost  mariner  shall  surprise 
the  secret  of  the  pathway,  and,  coming  suddenly 
upon  her,  shall  kiss  her  shadowed  lips.  Vague, 


144         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


elusive,  undefined,  as  such  fancies  must  be,  they 
yet  tinge  the  thoughts  of  almost  every  man  at 
certain  moments  of  his  life,  and  set  him  searching 
for  the  enchantment  of  bygone  days.  Eagerly  he 
looks  for  those 

"...  Magic  casements  opening  on  the  foam 

Of  perilous  seas,  in  fairy  lands  forlorn  "  ; 

and  it  is  the  fact  of  their  unreality  that  gives  them 
their  haunting  value. 

The  following  story,  preserved  in  a  papyrus  now 
at  St  Petersburg,  describes  a  mysterious  island 
whereon  there  dwelt  a  monster  most  lovable  and 
most  forlorn  :  a  creature  so  tenderly  drawn,  indeed, 
that  the  reader  will  not  fail  to  enthrone  him  in  the 
little  company  of  the  nobility  of  the  kingdom  of 
the  fairy  tale.  Translations  of  the  story  by  two 
or  three  savants  have  appeared ;  but  the  present 
version,  which  I  give  in  its  literal  form,  has  been 
prepared  especially  for  this  volume  by  Mr  Alan 
Gardiner;  and,  coming  from  him,  it  may  be  said 
to  be  the  last  word  of  the  science  upon  the  subject 
of  this  difficult  text. 

The  scene  with  which  the  story  opens  is  clearly 
indicated  by  the  introductory  sentences,  though 
actually  it  is  not  described.  A  large  war-galley 
had  come  swinging  down  the  Nile  from  the  land 
of  Wawat  in  the  south,  the  oars  flashing  in  the 
Nubian  sunlight.  On  the  left  the  granite  rocks 
of  the  island  of  Bigeh  towered  above  the  vessel ; 
on  the  right  the  island  of  Philae,  as  yet  devoid  of 


yr/ioto  by  bird. 

A  sailor  of  Lower  Xubia  and  his  son. 


Story  of  the  Shipwrecked  Sailor.  145 


buildings,  rested  placidly  on  the  blue  waters. 
Ahead  were  the  docks  of  Shallal,  where  the  clus- 
tered boats  lay  darkly  against  the  yellow  of  the 
desert,  and  busy  groups  of  figures,  loading  and 
unloading  cargoes,  moved  to  and  fro  over  the  sand. 
Away  to  the  left,  behind  Bigeh,  the  distant  roar 
of  the  First  Cataract  could  be  heard  as  the  waters 
went  rushing  down  from  Nubia  across  the  frontier 
into  Egypt. 

The  great  vessel  had  just  returned  from  the 
little-known  country  of  Ethiopia,  which  bordered 
the  Land  of  the  Ghosts,  having  its  frontiers  upon 
the  shores  of  the  sea  that  encircled  the  world  ;  and 
the  sailors  were  all  straining  their  eyes  towards 
these  docks  which  formed  the  southernmost  out- 
post of  Egypt,  their  home.  The  greatest  excite- 
ment prevailed  on  deck ;  but  in  the  cabin,  erected 
of  vari-coloured  cloth  in  the  stern  of  the  vessel,  the 
noble  leader  of  the  expedition  which  was  now  at 
its  conclusion  lay  in  a  troubled  sleep,  tossing  ner- 
vously upon  his  bed.  His  dreams  were  all  of  the 
terrible  ordeal  which  was  before  him.  He  could 
take  no  pleasure  in  his  home-coming,  for  he  was 
driven  nigh  crazy  by  the  thought  of  entering  the 
presence  of  the  great  Pharaoh  himself  in  order  to 
make  his  report. 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  realise  nowadays  the 
agonies  of  mind  that  a  man  had  to  suffer  who  was 
obliged  to  approach  the  incarnation  of  the  sun 
upon  earth,  and  to  crave  the  indulgence  of  this 
god  in  regard  to  any  shortcomings  in  the  conduct 

K 


146         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


of  the  affairs  intrusted  to  him.  Of  all  the  kings 
of  the  earth  the  Pharaoh  was  the  most  terrible, 
the  most  thoroughly  frightening.  Not  only  did 
he  hold  the  lives  of  his  subjects  in  his  hand  to  do 
with  them  as  he  chose,  but  he  also  controlled  the 
welfare  of  their  immortal  souls ;  for,  being  a  god, 
he  had  dominion  over  the  realms  of  the  dead.  To 
be  censured  by  the  Pharaoh  was  to  be  excommuni- 
cated from  the  pleasures  of  this  earth  and  out- 
lawed from  the  fair  estate  of  heaven.  A  well- 
known  Egyptian  noble  named  Sinuhe,  the  hero  of 
a  fine  tale  of  adventure,  describes  himself  as  pet- 
rified with  terror  when  he  entered  the  audience- 
chamber.  "I  stretched  myself  on  my  stomach," 
he  writes,  "  and  became  unconscious  before  him 
(the  Pharaoh).  This  god  addressed  me  kindly, 
but  I  was  as  a  man  overtaken  by  the  twilight :  my 
soul  departed,  my  flesh  trembled  ;  my  heart  was 
no  more  in  my  body  that  I  should  know  life  from 
death." 1  Similarly  another  personage  writes : 
"  Remember  the  day  of  bringing  the  tribute, 
when  thou  passest  into  the  Presence  under  the 
window,  the  nobles  on  each  side  before  his 
Majesty,  the  nobles  and  ambassadors  (?)  of  all 
countries.  They  stand  and  gaze  at  the  tribute, 
while  thou  fearest  and  shrinkest  back,  and  thy 
hand  is  weak,  and  thou  knowest  not  whether  it 
is  death  or  life  that  is  before  thee ;  and  thou  art 
brave  (only)  in  praying  to  thy  gods  :  *  Save  me, 
prosper  me  this  one  time.'"2 

1  Sinuhe,  254-256.  2  Papyrus  Roller,  5,  1-4. 


Story  of  the  Shipwrecked  Sailor.  147 


Of  the  Pharaoh  it  is  written — 

"  Thine  eye  is  clearer  than  the  stars  of  heaven ; 
Thou  seest  farther  than  the  sun. 
If  I  speak  afar  off,  thine  ear  hears ; 
If  I  do  a  hidden  deed,  thine  eye  sees  it."  1 

Or  again — 

"  The  god  of  taste  is  in  thy  mouth, 
The  god  of  knowledge  is  in  thy  heart ; 
Thy  tongue  is  enthroned  in  the  temple  of  truth ; 
God  is  seated  upon  thy  lips."  2 

To  meet  face  to  face  this  all-knowing,  all-seeing, 
celestial  creature,  from  whom  there  could  be  no 
secrets  hid  nor  any  guilt  concealed,  was  an  ordeal 
to  which  a  man  might  well  look  forward  with 
utter  horror.  It  was  this  terrible  dread  that, 
in  the  tale  with  which  we  are  now  concerned, 
held  the  captain  of  this  Nubian  vessel  in  agony 
upon  his  couch. 

As  he  lay  there,  biting  his  finger-nails,  one  of 
the  ship's  officers,  himself  a  former  leader  of  ex- 
peditions, entered  the  cabin  to  announce  their 
arrival  at  the  Shallal  docks. 

"  Good  news,  prince,"  said  he  cheerfully  to  his 
writhing  master.  "  Look,  we  have  reached  home. 
They  have  taken  the  mallet  and  driven  in  the 
mooring-post ;  the  ship's  cable  has  been  put  on 
land.  There  is  merrymaking  and  thanksgiving, 
and  every  man  is  embracing  his  fellow.  Our 
crew  has  returned  unscathed,  without  loss  to 
our   soldiers.     We   have   reached    the   end  of 


1  Anastasi  Papyri,  4,  5,  6  ff. 


2  Kubban  stela. 


148         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


Wawat,  we  have  passed  Bigeh.  Yes,  indeed, 
we  have  returned  safely ;  we  have  reached  our 
own  land." 

At  this  the  prince  seems  to  have  groaned  anew, 
much  to  the  distress  of  his  friend,  who  could  but 
urge  him  to  pull  himself  together  and  to  play  the 
man. 

"  Listen  to  me,  prince,"  he  begged,  "  for  I  am 
one  void  of  exaggeration.  Wash  yourself,  pour 
water  on  your  fingers." 

The  wretched  man  replied,  it  would  seem,  with 
a  repetition  of  his  fears  ;  whereupon  the  old  sailor 
seems  to  have  sat  down  by  his  side  and  to  have 
given  him  a  word  of  advice  as  to  how  he  should 
behave  in  the  king's  presence.  "  Make  answer 
when  you  are  addressed,"  he  said ;  "  speak  to  the 
king  with  a  heart  in  you ;  answer  without  re- 
straint. For  it  is  a  man's  mouth  that  saves 
him.  .  .  .  But  do  as  you  will  :  to  talk  to  you 
is  wearisome  (to  you)." 

Presently  the  old  sailor  was  seized  with  an  idea. 
He  would  tell  a  story,  no  matter  whether  it  were 
strictly  true  or  not,  in  which  his  own  adventures 
should  be  set  forth.  He  would  describe  how  he 
was  wrecked  upon  an  unknown  island,  how  he  was 
saved  from  death,  and  how,  on  his  return,  he  was 
conducted  into  the  Pharaoh's  presence.  A  narra- 
tion of  his  own  experiences  before  his  sovereign 
might  give  heart  to  his  captain,  and  might  effect- 
ually lift  the  intolerable  burden  of  dread  from  the 
princely  shoulders. 


Story  of  the  Shipwrecked  Sailor.  149 


"  I  will  relate  to  you,"  he  began,  "  a  similar 
thing  which  befell  me  my  very  self.  I  was 
making  a  journey  to  the  mines  of  the  sove- 
reign .  .  ." 

The  prince  may  here  be  supposed  to  have  sat  up 
and  given-  gloomy  attention  to  his  friends  words, 
for  Egyptians  of  all  ages  have  loved  a  good  story, 
and  tales  of  adventures  in  the  south  were,  in  early 
times,  most  acceptable.  The  royal  gold  mines  re- 
ferred to  were  probably  situated  at  the  southern- 
most end  of  the  eastern  Egyptian  desert.  To 
reach  them  one  would  take  ship  from  Kossair  or 
some  other  Red  Sea  port,  sail  down  the  coast  to 
the  frontiers  of  Pount,  the  modern  Somaliland, 
and  then  travel  inland  by  caravan.  It  was  a 
perilous  undertaking,  and,  at  the  time  when 
this  story  was  written,  the  journey  must  have 
furnished  material  for  amazing  yarns. 

"  I  went  down  on  the  Great  Green  Sea,"  con- 
tinued the  speaker,  "in  a  ship  one  hundred  and 
fifty  cubits 1  in  length  and  forty  cubits  in  breadth, 
and  in  it  were  a  hundred  and  fifty  sailors,  picked 
men  of  Egypt.  They  scanned  the  heavens  and 
they  scanned  the  earth,  and  their  hearts  were 
stouter  than  lions.  They  foretold  the  storm  or 
ever  it  came,  and  the  tempest  when  as  yet  it 
was  not." 

A  storm  arose  while  they  were  out  of  sight  of 
land,  and  rapidly  increased  in  violence,  until  the 
waves,  according  to  the  very  restrained  estimate 

1  The  average  cubit  was  about  20^  inches. 


150         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


of  the  narrator,  were  eight  cubits  high — that  is  to 
say,  about  thirteen  or  fourteen  feet.  To  one  who 
was  accustomed  to  the  waves  of  the  Nile  this 
would  be  a  great  height ;  and  the  passage  thus 
suggests  that  the  scribe  was  an  untravelled  man. 
A  vessel  of  150  cubits,  or  about  250  feet,  in  length 
might  have  been  expected  to  ride  out  a  storm  of 
this  magnitude ;  but,  according  to  the  story,  she 
went  to  pieces,  and  the  whole  ship's  company,  with 
the  single  exception  of  the  teller  of  the  tale,  were 
drowned.  The  survivor  managed  to  cling  to  a 
plank  of  wood,  which  was  driven  by  the  wind 
towards  the  shores  of  an  uncharted  island,  and 
here  at  length  he  was  cast  up  by  the  waves. 

Not  far  from  the  beach  there  was  a  small 
thicket,  and  to  this  the  castaway  hastened, 
sheltering  therein  from  the  fury  of  the  storm. 
For  three  days  in  deep  despair  he  lay  hidden, 
"  without  a  companion,"  as  he  said,  "  save  my 
heart ; "  but  at  last  the  tempest  subsided,  the 
sun  shone  in  the  heavens  once  again,  and  the 
famished  mariner  was  able  to  go  in  search  of 
food,  which,  to  his  delight,  he  found  in  abund- 
ance. 

The  scene  upon  which  he  gazed  as  he  plucked 
the  fruit  of  the  laden  trees  was  most  mysterious, 
and  all  that  he  saw  around  him  must  have  had  an 
appearance  not  altogether  consistent  with  reality, 
for,  indeed,  the  island  was  not  real.  It  had  been 
called  into  existence,  perhaps,  at  the  bidding  of 
some  god  to  relieve  the  tedium  of  an  eternal  after- 


Story  of  the  Shipwrecked  Sailor.  151 


noon,  and  suddenly  it  had  appeared,  floating  upon 
the  blue  waters  of  the  ocean.  How  long  it  had 
remained  there,  how  long  it  would  still  remain, 
none  could  tell,  for  at  any  moment  the  mind  of 
the  god  might  be  diverted,  and  instantly  it  would 
dissolve  and  vanish  as  would  a  dream.  Beneath 
the  isle  the  seas  moved,  and  there  in  the  darkness 
the  fishes  of  the  deep,  with  luminous,  round  eyes, 
passed  to  and  fro,  nibbling  the  roots  of  the  trees 
above  them.  Overhead  the  heavens  stretched, 
and  around  about  spread  the  expanse  of  the  sea 
upon  which  no  living  thing  might  be  seen,  save 
only  the  dolphins  as  they  leapt  into  the  sunshine 
and  sank  again  amidst  the  gleaming  spray. 

There  was  abundant  vegetation  upon  the  island, 
but  it  does  not  appear  to  have  looked  quite  real. 
The  fig-trees  were  heavy  with  fruit,  the  vines  were 
festooned  from  bough  to  bough,  hung  with  clusters 
of  grapes,  and  pomegranates  were  ripe  for  the 
plucking.  But  there  seems  to  have  been  an 
unearthliness  about  them,  as  though  a  deep  en- 
chantment were  upon  them.  In  the  tangled 
undergrowth  through  which  the  bewildered  sailor 
walked  there  lay  great  melons  and  pumpkins. 
The  breeze  wafted  to  his  nostrils  the  smell  of  the 
incense-trees ;  and  the  scent  of  the  flowers,  after 
the  storm,  must  have  made  every  breath  he 
breathed  a  pleasure  of  Paradise  to  him.  Moving 
over  the  luxuriant  ground,  he  put  up  flights  of 
wonderful  birds  which  sped  towards  the  interior, 
red,  green,  and  golden,  against  the  sky.  Monkeys 


152         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


chattered  at  him  from  the  trees,  and  sprang  from 
branch  to  branch  amidst  the  dancing  flowers.  In 
shadowed  pools  of  clear  water  fishes  were  to  be 
seen,  gliding  amidst  the  reeds ;  and  amongst  the 
rocks  beside  the  sea  the  castaway  could  look  down 
upon  the  creatures  of  the  deep  imprisoned  between 
the  tides. 

Food  in  all  forms  was  to  hand,  and  he  had  but 
to  fill  his  arms  with  the  good  things  which  Fate 
had  provided.  "  I  found  there,"  he  said,  "  figs, 
grapes,  and  all  manner  of  goodly  onions ;  melons 
and  pomegranates  were  there,  and  pumpkins  of 
every  kind.  Fishes  were  there  and  fowls  :  there 
was  nought  that  was  lacking  in  it.  I  satisfied 
myself,  and  set  upon  the  ground  the  abundance 
of  that  with  which  my  arms  were  filled.  I  took 
the  fire-borer  and  kindled  a  fire,  and  made  a  burnt- 
offering  to  the  gods." 

Seated  in  the  warm  sunshine  amidst  the  trees, 
eating  a  roast  fowl  seasoned  with  onions  or  some 
equally  palatable  concoction,  he  seems  to  have 
found  the  life  of  a  shipwrecked  mariner  by  no 
means  as  distressing  as  he  had  anticipated ;  and 
the  wording  of  the  narrative  appears  to  be  so 
arranged  that  an  impression  of  comfortable  ease 
and  security  may  surround  his  sunlit  figure. 
Suddenly,  however,  all  was  changed.  "  I  heard," 
said  he,  "  a  sound  as  of  thunder,  and  I  thought  it 
was  the  waves  of  the  sea."  Then  "  the  trees 
creaked  and  the  earth  trembled "  ;  and,  like  the 
Egyptian  that  he  was,  he  went  down  on  his  shak- 


Story  of  the  Shipwrecked  Sailor.  153 


ingr  hands  and  knees,  and  buried  his  face  in  the 
ground. 

At  length  "  I  uncovered  my  face,"  he  declared, 
"  and  I  found  it  was  a  serpent  that  came,  of  the 
length  of  thirty  cubits" — about  fifty  feet — "and 
his  tail  was  more  than  two  cubits "  in  diameter. 
"  His  skin  was  overlaid  with  gold,  and  his  eye- 
brows were  of  real  lapis  lazuli,  and  he  was 
exceeding  perfect." 

"  He  opened  his  mouth  to  me,"  he  continued, 
"  as  I  lay  on  my  stomach  before  him,  and  said  to 
me  :  '  Who  brought  thee,  who  brought  thee,  little 
one  ? — who  brought  thee  ?  If  thou  delayest  to 
tell  me  who  brought  thee  to  this  island  I  will 
cause  thee  to  know  thyself  (again  only)  when  thou 
art  ashes,  and  art  become  that  which  is  not  seen '  " 
— that  is  to  say,  a  ghost. 

"  Thus  you  spoke  to  me,"  whispered  the  old 
sailor,  as  though  again  addressing  the  serpent, 
who,  in  the  narration  of  these  adventures,  had 
become  once  more  a  very  present  reality  to  him, 
"  but  I  heard  it  not.  I  lay  before  thee,  and  was 
unconscious." 

Continuing  his  story,  he  told  how  the  great 
serpent  lifted  him  tenderly  in  his  golden  mouth, 
and  carried  him  to  his  dwelling-place,  setting  him 
down  there  without  hurt,  amongst  the  fruit-trees 
and  the  flowers.  The  Egyptian  at  once  fluog 
himself  upon  his  stomach  before  him,  and  lay 
there  in  a  stupor  of  terror.  The  serpent,  how- 
ever, meant  him  no  harm,  and  indeed  looked  down 


154         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


on  him  with  tender  pity  as  he  questioned  him 
once  more. 

"  Who  brought  thee,  who  brought  thee,  little 
one?"  he  asked  again.  '  'Who  brought  thee  to 
this  island  of  the  Great  Green  Sea,  whereof  the 
(under)  half  is  waves  ?  " 

On  his  hands  and  knees  before  the  kindly 
monster  the  shipwrecked  Egyptian  managed  to 
regain  possession  of  his  faculties  sufficiently  to 
give  an  account  of  himself. 

"  I  was  going  down  to  the  mines,"  he  faltered, 
"  on  a  mission  of  the  sovereign,  in  a  ship  one 
hundred  and  fifty  cubits  in  length  and  forty  in 
breadth,  and  in  it  were  one  hundred  and  fifty 
sailors,  picked  men  of  Egypt.  They  scanned  the 
heavens  and  they  scanned  the  earth,  and  their 
hearts  were  stouter  than  lions.  They  foretold  the 
storm  or  ever  it  came,  and  the  tempest  when  as 
yet  it  was  not.  Every  one  of  them,  his  heart  was 
stout  and  his  arm  strong  beyond  his  fellow. 
There  was  none  unproven  amongst  them.  The 
storm  arose  while  that  we  were  on  the  Great 
Green  Sea,  before  we  touched  land ;  and  as  we 
sailed  it  redoubled  (its  strength),  and  the  waves 
thereof  were  eight  cubits.  There  was  a  plank  of 
wood  to  which  I  clung.  The  ship  perished,  and 
of  them  that  were  in  her  not  one  was  left  saving 
me  alone,  who  now  am  at  your  side.  And  I  was 
brought  to  this  island  by  the  waves  of  the  Great 
Green  Sea." 

At  this  point  the  man  seems  to  have  been  over- 


Story  of  the  Shipwrecked  Sailor.  155 


come  once  more  with  terror,  and  the  serpent, 
therefore,  hastened  to  reassure  him. 

"  Fear  not,  little  one,"  he  said  in  his  gentle 
voice  ;  "  fear  not.  Let  not  thy  face  be  dismayed. 
If  thou  hast  come  to  me  it  is  God  who  has  let 
thee  live,  who  has  brought  thee  to  this  phantom 
isle  in  which  there  is  naught  that  is  lacking,  but 
it  is  full  of  all  good  things.  Behold,  thou  shalt 
pass  month  for  month  until  thou  accomplish  four 
months  upon  this  island.  And  a  ship  shall  come 
from  home,  and  sailors  in  it  whom  thou  knowest, 
and  thou  shalt  go  home  with  them,  and  shalt  die 
in  thine  own  city." 

"How  glad  is  he,"  exclaimed  the  old  mariner 
as  he  related  his  adventures  to  the  prince,  "  how 
glad  is  he  that  recounts  what  he  has  experienced 
when  the  calamity  is  passed ! "  The  prince,  no 
doubt,  replied  with  a  melancholy  grunt,  and  the 
thread  of  the  story  was  once  more  taken  up. 

There  was  a  particular  reason  why  the  serpent 
should  be  touched  and  interested  to  hear  how 
Providence  had  saved  the  Egyptian  from  death, 
for  he  himself  had  survived  a  great  calamity,  and 
had  been  saved  from  an  equally  terrible  fate,  as 
he  now  proceeded  to  relate. 

"  I  will  tell  to  thee  the  like  thereof,"  he  said, 
"  which  happened  in  this  island.  I  dwelt  herein 
with  my  brothers,  and  my  children  were  among 
them.  Seventy -two  serpents  we  were,  all  told, 
with  my  offspring  and  my  brothers ;  nor  have  I 
yet  mentioned  to  thee  a  little  girl  brought  to  me 


156         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


by  fortune.  A  star  came  down,  and  all  these 
went  up  in  the  flames.  And  it  happened  so  that 
I  was  not  together  with  them  when  they  were 
consumed ;  I  was  not  in  their  midst.  I  could 
have  died  (of  grief)  for  them  when  I  found  them 
as  a  single  pile  of  corpses." 

It  is  clear  from  the  story  that  this  great 
serpent  was  intended  to  be  pictured  as  a  sad 
and  lonely,  but  most  lovable,  character.  All 
alone  upon  this  ghostly  isle,  the  last  of  his  race, 
one  is  to  imagine  him  dreaming  of  the  little  girl 
who  was  taken  from  him,  together  with  all  his 
family.  Although  fabulous  himself,  and  half 
divine,  he  was  yet  the  victim  of  the  gods,  and 
was  made  to  suffer  real  sorrows  in  his  unreal 
existence.  Day  by  day  he  wandered  over  his 
limited  domain,  twisting  his  golden  body  amidst 
the  pumpkins,  and  rearing  himself  above  the  fig- 
trees  ;  thundering  down  to  the  beach  to  salute 
the  passing  dolphins,  or  sunning  himself,  a  golden 
blaze,  upon  the  rocks.  There  remained  naught 
for  him  to  do  but  to  await  the  cessation  of  the 
phantasy  of  his  life ;  and  yet,  though  his  lot  was 
hard,  he  was  ready  at  once  to  subordinate  his 
sorrows  to  those  of  the  shipwrecked  sailor  before 
him.  No  more  is  said  of  his  distress,  but  with 
his  next  words  he  seems  to  have  dismissed  his 
own  misfortunes,  and  to  have  attempted  to  com- 
fort the  Egyptian. 

"  If  thou  art  brave,"  he  said,  "  and  restrainest 
thy  longing,  thou  shalt  press  thy  children  to  thy 


Story  of  the  Shipwrecked  Sailor.  157 


bosom  and  kiss  thy  wife,  and  behold  thy  house 
— that  is  the  best  of  all  things.  Thou  shalt 
reach  home,  and  shalt  dwell  there  amongst  thy 
brothers." 

"  Thereat,"  said  the  mariner,  "  I  cast  me  upon 
my  stomach  and  touched  the  ground  before  him, 
and  I  said  to  him  :  1 1  will  tell  of  thy  might  to 
the  Sovereign,  I  will  cause  him  to  be  acquainted 
with  thy  greatness.  I  will  let  bring  to  thee  per- 
fume and  spices,  myrrh  and  sweet-scented  woods, 
and  incense  of  the  sanctuaries  wherewithal  every 
god  is  propitiated.  I  will  recount  all  that  has 
befallen  me,  and  that  which  I  have  seen  by  his 
might ;  and  they  shall  praise  thee  in  that  city 
before  the  magistrates  of  the  entire  land.  I  will 
slaughter  to  thee  oxen  as  a  burnt-offering,  geese 
will  I  pluck  for  thee,  and  I  will  let  bring  to  thee 
vessels  laden  with  all  the  goodly  things  of  Egypt, 
as  may  be  (fitly)  done  to  a  god  who  loves  men 
in  a  distant  land,  a  land  unknown  to  men/ " 

At  these  words  the  serpent  opened  his  golden 
mouth  and  fell  to  laughing.  The  thought  that 
this  little  mortal,  grovelling  before  him,  could 
believe  himself  able  to  repay  the  kindnesses 
received  tickled  him  immensely. 

"  Hast  thou  not  much  incense  (here,  then)  ? " 
he  laughed.  "  Art  not  become  a  lord  of  frank- 
incense? And  I,  behold  I  am  prince  of  Pount," 
the  land  of  perfumes,  "  and  the  incense,  that  is  my 
very  own.  As  for  the  spices  which  thou  sayest 
shall  be  brought,  they  are  the  wealth  of  this 


158         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


island.  But  it  shall  happen  when  thou  hast 
left  this  place,  never  shalt  thou  see  this  island 
more,  for  it  shall  be  changed  to  waves." 

The  teller  of  the  story  does  not  relate  in  what 
manner  he  received  this  well  -  merited  reproof. 
The  gentle  monster,  no  doubt,  was  tolerant  of 
his  presumptuousness,  and  soon  put  him  at  his 
ease  again.  During  the  whole  period  of  the 
Egyptian's  residence  on  the  island,  in  fact,  the 
golden  serpent  seems  to  have  been  invariably 
kind  to  him.  The  days  passed  by  like  a  happy 
dream,  and  the  spell  of  the  island's  enchantment 
possessed  him  so  that,  in  after  times,  the  details 
of  the  events  of  every  day  were  lost  in  the 
single  illusion  of  the  whole  adventure. 

At  last  the  ship  arrived,  as  it  had  been  fore- 
told, and  the  sailor  watched  her  passing  over 
the  hazy  sea  towards  the  mysterious  shore.  "  I 
went  and  got  me  up  into  a  tall  tree,"  he  said, 
"and  I  recognised  those  that  were  in  it.  And 
I  went  to  report  the  matter  (to  the  serpent), 
and  I  found  that  he  knew  it." 

Very  tenderly  the  great  monster  addressed  him. 
"  Fare  thee  well,  little  one,"  he  said.  "  Fare  thee 
well  to  thy  house.  Mayest  thou  see  thy  children 
and  raise  up  a  good  name  in  thy  city.  Behold, 
such  are  my  wishes  for  thee." 

"  Then,"  continued  the  sailor,  "  I  laid  me  on 
my  stomach,  my  arms  were  bended  before  him. 
And  he  gave  me  a  freight  of  frankincense,  per- 
fume and  myrrh,  sweet-scented  woods  and  anti- 


Pl.  xv. 


Story  of  the  Shipwrecked  Sailor.  159 


mony,  giraffes'  tails,  great  heaps  of  incense, 
elephant  tusks,  dogs,  apes  and  baboons,  and  all 
manner  of  valuable  things.  And  I  loaded  them 
in  that  ship,  and  I  laid  myself  on  my  stomach 
to  make  thanksgiving  to  him.  Then  he  said  to 
me :  '  Behold,  thou  shalt  come  home  in  two 
months,  and  shalt  press  thy  children  to  thy 
bosom,  and  shalt  flourish  in  their  midst ;  and 
there  thou  shalt  be  buried.' " 

To  appreciate  the  significance  of  these  last 
words  it  is  necessary  to  remember  what  an 
important  matter  it  was  to  an  Egyptian  that 
he  should  be  buried  in  his  native  city.  In  our 
own  case  the  position  upon  the  map  of  the  place 
where  we  lay  down  our  discarded  bones  is  gener- 
ally not  of  first-rate  importance,  and  the  thought 
of  being  buried  in  foreign  lands  does  not  frighten 
us.  Whether  our  body  is  to  be  packed  away  in 
the  necropolis  of  our  city,  or  shovelled  into  a 
hole  on  the  outskirts  of  Timbuctoo,  is  not  a 
matter  of  vital  interest.  There  is  a  certain  sen- 
timent that  leads  us  to  desire  interment  amidst 
familiar  scenes,  but  it  is  subordinated  with  ease 
to  other  considerations.  To  the  Egyptian,  how- 
ever, it  was  a  matter  of  paramount  importance. 
"What  is  a  greater  thing,"  says  Sinuhe  in  the 
tale  of  his  adventures  in  Asia,  "  than  that  I 
should  be  buried  in  the  land  in  which  I  was 
born  ?  "  ' '  Thou  shalt  not  die  in  a  foreign  land  ; 
Asiatics  shall  not  conduct  thee  to  the  tomb," 
says  the  Pharaoh  to  him;  and  again,  "It  is  no 


160         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 


little  thing  that  thou  shalt  be  buried  without 
Asiatics  conducting  thee." 1  There  is  a  stela 
now  preserved  in  Stuttgart,  in  which  the  de- 
ceased man  asks  those  who  pass  his  tomb  to 
say  a  prayer  for  his  soul;  and  he  adjures  them 
in  these  words:  ' 'So  truly  as  ye  wish  that  your 
native  gods  should  praise  you,  and  that  ye  should 
be  established  in  your  seats,  and  that  ye  should 
hand  down  your  offices  to  your  children  :  that  ye 
should  reach  your  homes  in  safety,  and  recount 
your  travels  to  your  wives ;  —  then  say  a 
prayer,"  &c.2 

The  serpent  was  thus  giving  the  castaway  a 
promise  which  meant  more  to  him  than  all  the 
other  blessings,  and  it  was  with  a  light  heart 
indeed  that  he  ran  down  to  the  beach  to  greet 
his  countrymen.  "  I  went  down  to  the  shore 
where  the  ship  was,"  he  continued,  "  and  I 
called  to  the  soldiers  which  were  in  that  ship, 
and  I  gave  praises  upon  the  shore  to  the  lord 
of  this  island,  and  likewise  did  they  which  were 
in  the  ship." 

Then  he  stepped  on  board,  the  gangway  was 
drawn  up,  and,  with  a  great  sweep  of  the  oars, 
the  ship  passed  out  on  to  the  open  sea.  Standing 
on  deck  amongst  the  new  cargo,  the  officers  and 
their  rescued  friend  bowed  low  to  the  great  ser- 
pent who  towered  above  the  trees  at  the  water's 
edge,  gleaming  in  the  sunshine.     "  Fare  thee  well, 

1  Sinuhe,  B.  159,  197,  258. 

2  Zeit.  Aeg.  Spr.,  39  (1901),  p.  118. 


Story  of  the  Shipwrecked  Sailor.  161 


little  one,"  his  deep  voice  rolled  across  the  water; 
and  again  they  bowed  in  obeisance  to  him.  The 
main-sail  was  unfurled  to  the  wind,  and  the  vessel 
scudded  bravelv  across  the  Great  Green  Sea ;  but 
for  some  time  yet  they  must  have  kept  their  eyes 
upon  the  fair  shape  of  the  phantom  island,  as  the 
trees  blended  into  the  hills  and  the  hills  at  last 
into  the  haze  ;  and  their  vision  must  have  been 
focussed  upon  that  one  gleaming  point  where  the 
golden  serpent,  alone  once  more  with  his  memories, 
watched  the  ship  moving  over  the  fairy  seas. 

"So  sailed  we  northwards,"  said  the  sailor,  "to 
the  place  of  the  Sovereign,  and  we  reached  home 
in  two  months,  in  accordance  with  all  that  he  had 
said.  And  I  entered  in  before  the  Sovereign,  and 
I  brought  to  him  this  tribute  which  I  had  taken 
away  from  within  this  island.  Then  gave  he 
thanksgivings  for  me  before  the  magistrates  of 
the  entire  land.  And  I  was  made  a  '  Follower,' 
and  was  rewarded  with  the  serfs  of  such  an 
one." 

The  old  sailor  turned  to  the  gloomy  prince 
as  he  brought  his  story  to  an  end.  "Look  at 
me,"  he  exclaimed,  "  now  that  I  have  reached 
land,  now  that  I  have  seen  (again  in  memory) 
what  I  have  experienced.  Hearken  thou  to  me, 
for  behold,  to  hearken  is  good  for  men." 

But  the  prince  only  sighed  the  more  deeply, 
and,  with  a  despairing  gesture,  replied  :  "  Be  not 
(so)  superior,  my  friend  !  Doth  one  give  water  to 
a  bird  on  the  eve,  when  it  is  to  be  slain  on  the 

L 


1 62         Studies  in  the  Treasury. 

morrow  ? "  With  these  words  the  manuscript 
abruptly  ends,  and  we  are  supposed  to  leave  the 
prince  still  disconsolate  in  his  cabin,  while  his 
friend,  unable  to  cheer  him,  returns  to  his  duties 
on  deck. 


PART  III. 
EESEAEOHES  IN  THE  TBEASUEY. 

"...  And  he,  shall  be, 

Man,  her  last  work,  who  seem'd  so  fair, 
Such  splendid  purpose  in  his  eyes, 
Who  roll'd  the  psalm  to  wintry  skies, 

Who  built  him  fanes  of  fruitless  prayer, 

Who  loved,  who  suffered  countless  ills, 
Who  battled  for  the  True,  the  Just, 
Be  blown  about  the  desert  dust, 

Or  seal'd  within  the  iron  hills  ?  " 

— Tennysoh. 


CHAPTEE  VII. 


RECENT  EXCAVATIONS  IN  EGYPT. 


There  came  to  the  camp  of  a  certain  professor, 
who  was  engaged  in  excavating  the  ruins  of  an 
ancient  Egyptian  city,  a  young  and  faultlessly- 
attired  Englishman,  whose  thirst  for  dramatic 
adventure  had  led  him  to  offer  his  services  as 
an  unpaid  assistant  digger.  This  immaculate 
personage  had  read  in  novels  and  tales  many  an 
account  of  the  wonders  which  the  spade  of  the 
excavator  could  reveal,  and  he  firmly  believed 
that  it  was  only  necessary  to  set  a  "nigger"  to 
dig  a  little  hole  in  the  ground  to  open  the  way 
to  the  treasuries  of  the  Pharaohs.  Gold,  silver, 
and  precious  stones  gleamed  before  him,  in  his 
imagination,  as  he  hurried  along  subterranean 
passages  to  the  vaults  of  long-dead  kings.  He 
expected  to  slide  upon  the  seat  of  his  very  well- 
made  breeches  down  the  staircase  of  the  ruined 
palace  which  he  had  entered  by  way  of  the  sky- 
light, and  to  find  himself,  at  the  bottom,  in  the 
presence  of  the  bejewelled  dead.  In  the  intervals 
between  such  experiences  he  was  of  opinion  that 
a  little  quiet  gazelle  shooting  would  agreeably  fill 


1 66      Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


in  the  swiftly  passing  hours ;  and  at  the  end  of 
the  season's  work  he  pictured  himself  returning 
to  the  bosom  of  his  family  with  such  a  tale  to 
tell  that  every  ear  would  be  opened  to  him. 

On  his  arrival  at  the  camp  he  was  conducted 
to  the  site  of  his  future  labours ;  and  his  horri- 
fied gaze  was  directed  over  a  large  area  of  mud- 
pie,  knee-deep  in  which  a  few  bedraggled  natives 
slushed  their  way  downwards.  After  three  weeks' 
work  on  this  distressing  site,  the  professor  an- 
nounced that  he  had  managed  to  trace  through 
the  mud  the  outline  of  the  palace  walls,  once  the 
feature  of  the  city,  and  that  the  work  here  might 
now  be  regarded  as  finished.  He  was  then  con- 
ducted to  a  desolate  spot  in  the  desert,  and  until 
the  day  on  which  he  fled  back  to  England  he  was 
kept  to  the  monotonous  task  of  superintending  a 
gang  of  natives  whose  sole  business  it  was  to  dig 
a  very  large  hole  in  the  sand,  day  after  day  and 
week  after  week. 

It  is,  however,  sometimes  the  fortune  of  the 
excavator  to  make  a  discovery  which  almost  rivals 
in  dramatic  interest  the  tales  of  his  youth.  Such 
an  experience  fell  to  the  lot  of  Emil  Brugsch 
Pasha  when  he  was  lowered  into  an  ancient  tomb 
and  found  himself  face  to  face  with  a  score  of  the 
Pharaohs  of  Egypt,  each  lying  in  his  coffin ;  or 
again,  when  Monsieur  de  Morgan  discovered  the 
great  mass  of  royal  jewels  in  one  of  the  pyramids 
at  Dachour.  But  such  " finds"  can  be  counted 
on  the  fingers,  and  more  often  an  excavation  is 


Recent  Excavations  in  Egypt.  167 


a  fruitless  drudgery.  Moreover,  the  life  of  the 
digger  is  not  often  a  pleasant  one. 

It  will  perhaps  be  of  interest  to  the  reader  of 
romances  to  illustrate  the  above  remarks  by  the 
narration  of  some  of  my  own  experiences  ;  but 
there  are  only  a  few  interesting  and  unusual 
episodes  in  which  I  have  had  the  peculiarly 
good  fortune  to  be  an  actor.  There  will  probably 
be  some  drama  to  be  felt  in  the  account  of  the 
more  important  discoveries  (for  there  certainly  is 
to  the  antiquarian  himself) ;  but  it  should  be 
pointed  out  that  the  interest  of  these  rare  finds 
pales  before  the  description,  which  many  of  us 
have  heard,  of  how  the  archaeologists  of  a  past 
century  discovered  the  body  of  Charlemagne  clad 
in  his  royal  robes  and  seated  upon  his  throne, — 
which,  by  the  way,  is  quite  untrue.  In  spite 
of  all  that  is  said  to  the  contrary,  truth  is  seldom 
stranger  than  fiction ;  and  the  reader  who  desires 
to  be  told  of  the  discovery  of  buried  cities  whose 
streets  are  paved  with  gold  should  take  warning 
in  time  and  return  at  once  to  his  novels. 

If  the  dawning  interest  of  the  reader  has  now 
been  thoroughly  cooled  by  these  words,  it  may 
be  presumed  that  it  will  be  utterly  annihilated 
by  the  following  narration  of  my  first  fruitless 
excavation ;  and  thus  one  will  be  able  to  con- 
tinue the  story  with  the  relieved  consciousness 
that  nobody  is  attending. 

In  the  capacity  of  assistant  to  Professor  Flinders 
Petrie,  I  was  set,  many  years  ago,  to  the  task  of 


1 68       Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


excavating  a  supposed  royal  cemetery  in  the  desert 
behind  the  ancient  city  of  Abydos,  in  Upper  Egypt. 
Two  mounds  were  first  attacked ;  and  after  many 
weeks  of  work  in  digging  through  the  sand,  the 
superstructure  of  two  great  tombs  was  bared.  In 
the  case  of  the  first  of  these  several  fine  passages 
of  good  masonry  were  cleared,  and  at  last  the 
burial -chamber  was  reached.  In  the  huge  sar- 
cophagus which  was  there  found  great  hopes  were 
entertained  that  the  body  and  funeral- offerings  of 
the  dead  prince  would  be  discovered ;  but  when 
at  last  the  interior  was  laid  bare  the  solitary 
article  found  was  a  copy  of  a  French  newspaper 
left  behind  by  the  last,  and  equally  disgusted, 
excavator.  The  second  tomb  defied  the  most 
ardent  exploration,  and  failed  to  show  any  traces 
of  a  burial.  The  mystery  was  at  last  solved  by 
Professor  Petrie,  who,  with  his  usual  keen  per- 
ception, soon  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
whole  tomb  was  a  dummy,  built  solely  to  hide 
an  enormous  mass  of  rock  chippings,  the  presence 
of  which  had  been  a  puzzle  for  some  time.  These 
masons'  chippings  were  evidently  the  output  from 
some  large  cutting  in  the  rock,  and  it  became 
apparent  that  there  must  be  a  great  rock  tomb 
in  the  neighbourhood.  Trial  trenches  in  the 
vicinity  presently  revealed  the  existence  of  a 
long  wall,  which,  being  followed  in  either  direc- 
tion, proved  to  be  the  boundary  of  a  vast  court 
or  enclosure  built  upon  the  desert  at  the  foot 
of  a  conspicuous  cliff.     A  ramp  led  up  to  the 


Recent  Excavations  in  Egypt.  169 


entrance ;  but  as  it  was  slightly  askew  and 
pointed  to  the  southern  end  of  the  enclosure,  it 
was  supposed  that  the  rock  tomb,  which  presum- 
ably ran  into  the  cliff  from  somewhere  inside 
this  area,  was  situated  at  that  end.  The  next 
few  weeks  were  occupied  in  the  tedious  task  of 
probing  the  sand  hereabouts,  and  at  length  in 
clearing  it  away  altogether  down  to  the  surface 
of  the  underlying  rock.  Nothing  was  found,  how- 
ever ;  and  sadly  we  turned  to  the  exact  middle 
of  the  court,  and  began  to  work  slowly  to  the 
foot  of  the  cliff.  Here,  in  the  very  middle  of 
the  back  wall,  a  pillared  chamber  was  found, 
and  it  seemed  certain  that  the  entrance  to  the 
tomb  would  now  be  discovered. 

The  best  men  were  placed  to  dig  out  this  cham- 
ber, and  the  excavator — it  was  many  years  ago — 
went  about  his  work  with  the  weight  of  fame  upon 
his  shoulders  and  an  expression  of  intense  mystery 
upon  his  sorely  sun-scorched  face.  How  clearly 
memory  recalls  the  letter  home  that  week,  "  We 
are  on  the  eve  of  a  great  discovery " ;  and  how 
vividly  rises  the  picture  of  the  baking  desert  sand 
into  which  the  sweating  workmen  were  slowly 
digging  their  way !  But  our  hopes  were  short- 
lived, for  it  very  soon  became  apparent  that 
there  was  no  tomb  entrance  in  this  part  of  the 
enclosure.  There  remained  the  north  end  of 
the  area,  and  on  to  this  all  the  available  men 
were  turned.  Deeper  and  deeper  they  dug  their 
way,  until  the  mounds  of  sand  thrown  out  formed, 


170       Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


as  it  were,  the  lip  of  a  great  crater.  At  last,  some 
forty  or  fifty  feet  down,  the  underlying  rock  was 
struck,  and  presently  the  mouth  of  a  great  shaft 
was  exposed  leading  down  into  the  bowels  of  the 
earth.  The  royal  tomb  had  at  last  been  dis- 
covered, and  it  only  remained  to  effect  an 
entrance.  The  days  were  now  filled  with  excite- 
ment, and,  the  thoughts  being  concentrated  on 
the  question  of  the  identity  of  the  royal  occupant 
of  the  tomb,  it  was  soon  fixed  in  our  minds  that 
we  were  about  to  enter  the  burial-place  of  no 
less  a  personage  than  the  great  Pharaoh  Senusert 
III.  (Sesostris),  the  same  king  whose  jewels  were 
found  at  Dachour, 

One  evening,  just  after  I  had  left  the  work, 
the  men  came  down  to  the  distant  camp  to  say 
that  the  last  barrier  was  now  reached  and  that  an 
entrance  could  be  effected  at  once.  In  the  pale 
light  of  the  moon,  therefore,  I  hastened  back  to 
the  desert  with  a  few  trusted  men.  As  we  walked 
along,  one  of  these  natives  very  cheerfully  re- 
marked that  we  should  all  probably  get  our 
throats  cut,  as  the  brigands  of  the  neighbourhood 
had  got  wind  of  the  discovery,  and  were  sure  to 
attempt  to  enter  the  tomb  that  night.  With  this 
pleasing  prospect  before  us  we  walked  with  some 
caution  over  the  silent  desert.  Reaching  the 
mound  of  sand  which  surrounded  our  excavation, 
we  crept  to  the  top  and  peeped  over  into  the 
crater.  At  once  we  observed  a  dim  light  below 
us,  and  almost  immediately  an  agitated  but  polite 


Recent  Excavations  in  Egypt.  171 


voice  from  the  opposite  mound  called  out  in  Arabic, 
"  Go  away,  mister.  We  have  all  got  guns."  This 
remark  was  followed  by  a  shot  which  whistled 
past  me ;  and  therewith  I  slid  down  the  hill  once 
more,  and  heartily  wished  myself  safe  in  my  bed. 
Our  party  then  spread  round  the  crater,  and  at  a 
given  word  we  proposed  to  rush  the  place.  But 
the  enemy  was  too  quick  for  us,  and  after  the 
briefest  scrimmage,  and  the  exhanging  of  a  harm- 
less shot  or  two,  we  found  ourselves  in  possession 
of  the  tomb,  and  were  able  to  pretend  that  we 
were  not  a  bit  frightened. 

Then  into  the  dark  depths  of  the  shaft  we 
descended,  and  ascertained  that  the  robbers  had 
not  effected  an  entrance.  A  long  night  watch 
followed,  and  the  next  day  we  had  the  satisfaction 
of  arresting  some  of  the  criminals.  The  tomb  was 
found  to  penetrate  several  hundred  feet  into  the 
cliff,  and  at  the  end  of  the  long  and  beautifully 
worked  passage  the  great  royal  sarcophagus  was 
found  —  empty  !  So  ended  a  very  strenuous 
season's  work. 

If  the  experiences  of  a  digger  in  Professor 
Petrie's  camp  are  to  be  regarded  as  typical,  they 
will  probably  serve  to  damp  the  ardour  of  eager 
young  gentlemen  in  search  of  ancient  Egyptian 
treasure.  One  lives  in  a  bare  little  hut  con- 
structed of  mud,  and  roofed  with  cornstalks  or 
corrugated  iron ;  and  if  by  chance  there  happened 
to  be  a  rain  storm,  as  there  was  when  I  was  a 
member  of  the  community,  one  may  watch  the 


172       Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


frail  building  gently  subside  in  a  liquid  stream 
on  to  one's  bed  and  books.  For  seven  days  in 
the  week  one's  work  continues,  and  it  is  only  to 
the  real  enthusiast  that  that  work  is  not  mon- 
otonous and  tiresome. 

A  few  years  later  it  fell  to  my  lot  to  excavate 
for  the  Government  the  funeral  temple  of 
Thutmosis  III.  at  Thebes,  and  a  fairly  large  sum 
was  spent  upon  the  undertaking.  Although  the 
site  was  most  promising  in  appearance,  a  couple 
of  months'  work  brought  to  light  hardly  a  single 
object  of  importance,  whereas  exactly  similar  sites 
in  the  same  neighbourhood  had  produced  inscrip- 
tions of  the  greatest  value.  Two  years  ago  I 
assisted  at  an  excavation  upon  a  site  of  my 
own  selection,  the  net  result  of  which,  after  six 
weeks'  work,  was  one  mummified  cat  !  To  sit 
over  the  work  day  after  day,  as  did  the  un- 
fortunate promoter  of  this  particular  enterprise, 
with  the  flies  buzzing  around  his  face  and  the 
sun  blazing  down  upon  him  from  a  relentless 
sky,  was  hardly  a  pleasurable  task ;  and  to  watch 
the  clouds  of  dust  go  up  from  the  tip -heap, 
where  tons  of  unprofitable  rubbish  rolled  down 
the  hillside  all  day  long.,  was  an  occupation  for 
the  damned.  Yet  that  is  excavating  as  it  is 
usually  found  to  be. 

Now  let  us  consider  the  other  side  of  the 
story.  In  the  Valley  of  the  Tombs  of  the  Kings 
at  Thebes  excavations  have  been  conducted  for 
some  years  by  Mr  Theodore  M.  Davis,  of  New- 


Recent  Excavations  in  Egypt.  173 


port,  Rhode  Island,  by  special  arrangement  with 
the  Department  of  Antiquities  of  the  Egyptian 
Government ;  and  as  an  official  of  that  Depart- 
ment I  have  had  the  privilege  of  being  present 
at  all  the  recent  discoveries.  The  finding  of  the 
tomb  of  Yuaa  and  Tuau  a  few  years  ago  was  one 
of  the  most  interesting  archaeological  events  of 
recent  times,  and  one  which  came  somewhere 
near  to  the  standard  of  romance  set  by  the 
novelists.  Yuaa  and  Tuau  were  the  parents  of 
Queen  Tiy,  the  discovery  of  whose  tomb  is  re- 
corded in  the  next  chapter.  When  the  entrance 
of  their  tomb  was  cleared,  a  flight  of  steps  was 
exposed,  leading  down  to  a  passage  blocked  by  a 
wall  of  loose  stones.  In  the  top  right-hand  corner 
a  small  hole,  large  enough  to  admit  a  man,  had 
been  made  in  ancient  times,  and  through  this  wTe 
could  look  down  into  a  dark  passage.  As  it  was 
too  late  in  the  day  to  enter  at  once,  we  postponed 
that  exciting  experience  until  t?he  morrow,  and 
some  police  were  sent  for  to  guard  the  entrance 
during  the  night.  I  had  slept  the  previous  night 
over  the  mouth,  and  there  was  now  no  possibility 
of  leaving  the  place  for  several  more  nights,  so  a 
rough  camp  was  formed  on  the  spot. 

Here  I  settled  myself  down  for  the  long  watch, 
and  speculated  on  the  events  of  the  next  morning, 
when  Mr  Davis  and  one  or  two  well-known  Egypt- 
ologists were  to  come  to  the  valley  to  open  the 
sepulchre.  Presently,  in  the  silent  darkness,  a 
slight  noise  was  heard  on  the  hillside,  and  im- 


174      Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


mediately  the  challenge  of  the  sentry  rang  out. 
This  was  answered  by  a  distant  call,  and  after 
some  moments  of  alertness  on  our  part  we  ob- 
served two  figures  approaching  us.  These,  to  my 
surprise,  proved  to  be  a  well-known  American 
artist  and  his  wife,1  who  had  obviously  come  on 
the  expectation  that  trouble  was  ahead ;  but 
though  in  this  they  were  certainly  destined  to 
suffer  disappointment,  still,  out  of  respect  for  the 
absolute  unconcern  of  both  visitors,  it  may  be  men- 
tioned that  the  mouth  of  a  lonely  tomb  already 
said  by  native  rumour  to  contain  incalculable 
wealth  is  not  perhaps  the  safest  place  in  the 
world.  Here,  then,  on  a  level  patch  of  rock  we 
three  lay  down  and  slept  fitfully  until  the  dawn. 
Soon  after  breakfast  the  wall  at  the  mouth  of  the 
tomb  was  pulled  down,  and  the  party  passed  into 
the  low  passage  which  sfcped  down  to  the  burial 
chamber.  At  the  bottom  of  this  passage  there 
was  a  second  wall  blocking  the  way ;  but  when 
a  few  layers  had  been  taken  off  the  top  we  were 
able  to  climb,  one  by  one,  into  the  chamber. 

Imagine  entering  a  town  house  which  had  been 
closed  for  the  summer :  imagine  the  stuffy  room, 
the  stiff,  silent  appearance  of  the  furniture,  the 
feeling  that  some  ghostly  occupants  of  the  vacant 
chairs  have  just  been  disturbed,  the  desire  to 
throw  open  the  windows  to  let  life  into  the 
room  once  more.  That  was  perhaps  the  first 
sensation  as  we  stood,  really  dumfounded,  and 

1  Mr  and  Mrs  Joseph  Lindon  Smith. 


{Photo  by  the  Author. 

Excavating-  the  Osireion  at  Abydos.    A  chain  of  boys  handing-  up 
baskets  of  sand  to  the  surface. 


Pl.  xvii. 


V 


Recent  Excavations  in  Egypt.  175 


stared  around  at  the  relics  of  the  life  of  over 
three  thousand  years  ago,  all  of  which  were  as 
new  almost  as  when  they  graced  the  palace  of 
Prince  Yuaa.  Three  arm-chairs  were  perhaps  the 
first  objects  to  attract  the  attention :  beautiful 
carved  wooden  chairs,  decorated  with  gold.  Be- 
longing to  one  of  these  was  a  pillow  made  of 
down  and  covered  with  linen.  It  was  so  perfectly 
preserved  that  one  might  have  sat  upon  it  or 
tossed  it  from  this  chair  to  that  without  doing 
it  injury.  Here  were  fine  alabaster  vases,  and  in 
one  of  these  we  were  startled  to  find  a  liquid, 
like  honey  or  syrup,  still  unsolidified  by  time. 
Boxes  of  exquisite  workmanship  stood  in  various 
parts  of  the  room,  some  resting  on  delicately 
wrought  legs.  Now  the  eye  was  directed  to  a 
wicker  trunk  fitted  with  trays  and  partitions,  and 
ventilated  with  little  apertures,  since  the  scents 
were  doubtless  strong.  Two  most  comfortable 
beds  were  to  be  observed,  fitted  with  springy 
string  mattresses  and  decorated  with  charming 
designs  in  gold.  There  in  the  far  corner,  placed 
upon  the  top  of  a  number  of  large  white  jars, 
stood  the  light  chariot  which  Yuaa  had  owned 
in  his  lifetime.  In  all  directions  stood  objects 
gleaming  with  gold  undulled  by  a  speck  of  dust, 
and  one  looked  from  one  article  to  another  with 
the  feeling  that  the  entire  human  conception  of 
Time  was  wrong.  These  were  the  things  of 
yesterday,  of  a  year  or  so  ago.  Why,  here  were 
meats  prepared  for  the  feasts  in  the  Underworld ; 


176       Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


here  were  Yuaa's  favourite  joints,  each  neatly 
placed  in  a  wooden  box  as  though  for  a  journey. 
Here  was  his  staff,  and  here  were  his  sandals, — 
a  new  pair  and  an  old.  In  another  corner  there 
stood  the  magical  figures  by  the  power  of  which 
the  prince  was  to  make  his  way  through  Hades. 
The  words  of  the  mystical  "  Chapter  of  the 
Flame "  and  of  the  "  Chapter  of  the  Magical 
Figure  of  the  North  Wall"  were  inscribed  upon 
them ;  and  upon  a  great  roll  of  papyrus  twenty- 
two  yards  in  length  other  efficacious  prayers  were 
written. 

But  though  the  eyes  passed  from  object  to  object, 
they  ever  returned  to  the  two  lidless  gilded  coffins 
in  which  the  owners  of  this  room  of  the  dead  lay  as 
though  peacefully  sleeping.  First  above  Yuaa  and 
then  above  his  wife  the  electric  lamps  were  held, 
and  as  one  looked  down  into  their  quiet  faces  there 
was  almost  the  feeling  that  they  would  presently 
open  their  eyes  and  blink  at  the  light.  The  stern 
features  of  the  old  man  commanded  one's  attention, 
and  again  and  again  our  gaze  was  turned  from  this 
mass  of  wealth  to  this  sleeping  figure  in  whose 
honour  it  had  been  placed  here. 

At  last  we  returned  to  the  surface  to  allow  the 
thoughts  opportunity  to  collect  themselves  and 
the  pulses  time  to  quiet  down,  for,  even  to  the 
most  unemotional,  a  discovery  of  this  kind,  bring- 
ing one  into  the  very  presence  of  the  past,  has 
really  an  unsteadying  effect.  Then  once  more  we 
descended,  and  made  the  preliminary  arrangements 


Recent  Excavations  in  Egypt.  177 


for  the  cataloguing  of  the  antiquities.  It  was  now 
that  the  real  work  began,  and,  once  the  excitement 
was  past,  there  was  a  monotony  of  labour  to  be 
faced  which  put  a  very  considerable  strain  on  the 
powers  of  all  concerned.  The  hot  days  when  one 
sweated  over  the  heavy  packing-cases,  and  the 
bitterly  cold  nights  when  one  lay  at  the  mouth  of 
the  tomb  under  the  stars,  dragged  on  for  many  a 
week ;  and  when  at  last  the  long  train  of  boxes 
was  carried  down  to  the  Nile  en  route  for  the 
Cairo  Museum,  it  was  with  a  sigh  of  relief  that 
the  official  returned  to  his  regular  work. 

This,  of  course,  was  a  very  exceptional  discovery. 
Mr  Davis  has  made  other  great  finds,  but  to  me 
they  have  not  equalled  in  dramatic  interest  the 
discovery  just  recorded.  Even  in  this  royal  valley, 
however,  there  is  much  drudgery  to  be  faced,  and 
for  a  large  part  of  the  season's  work  it  is  the  ex- 
cavator's business  to  turn  over  endless  masses  of 
rock  chippings,  and  to  dig  huge  holes  which  have 
no  interest  for  the  patient  digger.  Sometimes  the 
mouth  of  a  tomb  is  bared,  and  is  entered  with  the 
profoundest  hopes,  which  are  at  once  dashed  by 
the  sudden  abrupt  ending  of  the  cutting  a  few 
yards  from  the  surface.  At  other  times  a  tomb- 
chamber  is  reached  and  is  found  to  be  absolutely 
empty. 

At  another  part  of  Thebes  the  well  -  known 
Egyptologist,  Professor  Schiaparelli,  had  exca- 
vated for  a  number  of  years  without  finding  any- 
thing of  much  importance,  when  suddenly  one  fine 

If 


178      Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


day  he  struck  the  mouth  of  a  large  tomb  which 
was  evidently  intact.  I  was  at  once  informed  of 
the  discovery,  and  proceeded  to  the  spot  as  quickly 
as  possible.  The  mouth  of  the  tomb  was  approached 
down  a  flight  of  steep,  rough  steps,  still  half-choked 
with  debris.  At  the  bottom  of  this  the  entrance 
of  a  passage  running  into  the  hillside  was  blocked 
by  a  wall  of  rough  stones.  After  photographing 
and  removing  this,  we  found  ourselves  in  a  long, 
low  tunnel,  blocked  by  a  second  wall  a  few  yards 
ahead.  Both  these  walls  were  intact,  and  we 
realised  that  we  were  about  to  see  what  probably 
no  living  man  had  ever  seen  before  :  the  absolutely 
intact  remains  of  a  rich  Theban  of  the  Imperial 
Age— i.e.,  about  1200  or  1300  B.C.  When  this 
second  wall  was  taken  down  we  passed  into  a  care- 
fully-cut passage  high  enough  to  permit  of  one 
standing  upright. 

At  the  end  of  this  passage  a  plain  wooden  door 
barred  our  progress.  The  wood  retained  the  light 
colour  of  fresh  deal,  and  looked  for  all  the  world 
as  though  it  had  been  set  up  but  yesterday.  A 
heavy  wooden  lock,  such  as  is  used  at  the  pres- 
ent day,  held  the  door  fast.  A  neat  bronze 
handle  on  the  side  of  the  door  was  connected  by 
a  spring  to  a  wooden  knob  set  in  the  masonry 
door-post ;  and  this  spring  was  carefully  sealed 
with  a  small  dab  of  stamped  clay  The  whole  con- 
trivance seemed  so  modern  that  Professor  Schia- 
parelli  called  to  his  servant  for  the  key,  who  quite 
seriously  replied,  "  I  don't  know  where  it  is,  sir. 


Recent  Excavations  in  Egypt.  179 


He  then  thumped  the  door  with  his  hand  to  see 
whether  it  would  be  likely  to  give ;  and,  as  the 
echoes  reverberated  through  the  tomb,  one  felt 
that  the  mummy,  in  the  darkness  beyond,  might 
well  think  that  his  resurrection  call  had  come. 
One  almost  expected  him  to  rise,  like  the  dead 
knights  of  Kildare  in  the  Irish  legend,  and  to  ask, 
"Is  it  time  ?  "  for  the  three  thousand  years  which 
his  religion  had  told  him  was  the  duration  of  his 
life  in  the  tomb  was  already  long  past. 

Meanwhile  we  turned  our  attention  to  the  objects 
which  stood  in  the  passage,  having  been  placed 
there  at  the  time  of  the  funeral,  owing  to  the  lack  * 
of  room  in  the  burial-chamber.  Here  a  vase,  rising 
upon  a  delicately  shaped  stand,  attracted  the  eye 
by  its  beauty  of  form  ;  and  here  a  bedstead  caused 
us  to  exclaim  at  its  modern  appearance.  A  palm- 
leaf  fan,  used  by  the  ancient  Egyptians  to  keep 
the  flies  off  their  wines  and  unguents,  stood  near  a 
now  empty  jar ;  and  near  by  a  basket  of  dried-up 
fruit  was  to  be  seen.  This  dried  fruit  gave  the 
impression  that  the  tomb  was  perhaps  a  few  months 
old,  but  there  was  nothing  else  to  be  seen  which 
suggested  that  the  objects  were  even  as  much  as  a 
year  old.  It  was  almost  impossible  to  believe,  and 
quite  impossible  to  realise,  that  we  were  standing 
where  no  man  had  stood  for  well  over  three  thou- 
sand years ;  and  that  we  were  actually  breathing 
the  air  which  had  remained  sealed  in  the  passage 
since  the  ancient  priests  had  closed  the  entrance 
thirteen  hundred  years  before  Christ. 


180      Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


Before  we  could  proceed  farther,  many  flashlight 
photographs  had  to  be  taken,  and  drawings  made 
of  the  doorway ;  and  after  this  a  panel  of  the 
woodwork  had  to  be  removed  with  a  fret-saw  in 
order  that  the  lock  and  seal  might  not  be  damaged. 
At  last,  however,  this  was  accomplished,  and  the 
way  into  the  tomb-chamber  was  open.  Stepping 
through  the  frame  of  the  door,  we  found  ourselves 
in  an  unencumbered  portion  of  the  floor,  while 
around  us  in  all  directions  stood  the  funeral  furni- 
ture, and  on  our  left  the  coffins  of  the  deceased 
noble  and  his  wife  loomed  large.  Everything 
looked  new  and  undecayed,  and  even  the  order  in 
which  the  objects  were  arranged  suggested  a  tidy- 
ing-up  done  that  very  morning.  The  gravel  on 
the  floor  was  neatly  smoothed,  and  not  a  speck  of 
dust  was  anywhere  to  be  observed.  Over  the 
large  outer  coffin  a  pall  of  fine  linen  was  laid,  not 
rotting  and  falling  to  pieces  like  the  cloth  of 
mediaeval  times  we  see  in  our  museums,  but  soft 
and  strong  like  the  sheets  of  our  beds.  In  the 
clear  space  before  the  coffin  stood  a  wooden  pedes- 
tal in  the  form  of  a  miniature  lotus  column.  On 
the  top  of  this,  resting  on  three  wooden  prongs, 
was  a  small  copper  dish,  in  which  were  the  ashes 
of  incense,  and  the  little  stick  used  for  stirring 
them.  One  asked  oneself  in  bewilderment  whether 
the  ashes  here,  seemingly  not  cold,  had  truly 
ceased  to  glow  at  a  time  when  Rome  and  Greece 
were  undreamt  of,  when  Assyria  did  not  exist, 


Recent  Excavations  in  Egypt.  181 


and  when  the  Exodus  of  the  Children  of  Israel 
was  yet  unaccomplished. 

On  low  tables  round  cakes  of  bread  were  laid 
out,  not  cracked  and  shrivelled,  but  smooth  and 
brown,  with  a  kind  of  white-of-egg  glaze  upon 
them.  Onions  and  fruit  were  also  spread  out ;  and 
the  fruit  of  the  dom  palm  was  to  be  seen  in  plenty. 
In  various  parts  of  the  chamber  there  were  numer- 
ous bronze  vessels  of  different  shapes,  intended  for 
the  holding  of  milk  and  other  drinkables. 

Well  supplied  with  food  and  drink,  the  senses 
of  the  dead  man  wrere  soothed  by  a  profusion  of 
flowers,  which  lay  withered  but  not  decayed  beside 
the  coffin,  and  which  at  the  time  of  the  funeral 
must  have  filled  the  chamber  with  their  sweetness. 
Near  the  doorway  stood  an  upright  wooden  chest 
closed  with  a  lid.  Opening  this,  we  found  it  to 
contain  the  great  ceremonial  wig  of  the  deceased 
man,  which  was  suspended  from  a  rail  passing 
across  the  top  of  the  chest,  and  hung  free  of  the 
sides  and  bottom.  The  black  hair  was  plaited 
into  hundreds  of  little  tails,  but  in  size  the  wig 
was  not  unlike  those  of  the  early  eighteenth  cen- 
tury in  Europe.  Chairs,  beds,  and  other  pieces  of 
furniture  were  arranged  around  the  room,  and  at 
one  side  there  were  a  number  of  small  chests  and 
boxes  piled  up  against  the  wall.  We  opened  one 
or  two  of  these,  and  found  them  to  contain  delicate 
little  vases  of  glass,  stone,  and  metal,  wrapped 
round  with  rags  to  prevent  them  breaking.  These, 


1 82       Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


like  everything  else  in  the  tomb,  were  new  and 
fresh,  and  showed  no  trace  of  the  passing  of  the 
years. 

The  coffins,  of  course,  were  hidden  by  the  great 
casing  in  which  each  rested,  and  which  itself  was 
partly  hidden  by  the  linen  pall.  Nothing  could 
be  touched  for  many  days,  until  photographs  had 
been  taken  and  records  made ;  and  we  therefore 
returned  through  the  long  passage  to  the  light  of 
the  day. 

There  must  have  been  a  large  number  of  intact 
tombs  to  be  found  when  first  the  modern  interest 
in  Egyptian  antiquities  developed;  but  the  market 
thus  created  had  to  be  supplied,  and  gangs  of 
illicit  diggers  made  short  work  of  the  most  acces- 
sible tombs.  This  illegal  excavation,  of  course, 
continues  to  some  extent  at  the  present  day,  in 
spite  of  all  precautions,  but  the  results  are  be- 
coming less  and  less  proportionate  to  the  labour 
expended  and  risk  taken.  A  native  likes  best  to 
do  a  little  quiet  digging  in  his  own  back  yard  and 
to  admit  nobody  else  into  the  business.  To  illus- 
trate this,  I  may  mention  a  tragedy  which  was 
brought  to  my  notice  a  few  years  ago.  A  certain 
native  discovered  the  entrance  of  a  tomb  in  the 
floor  of  his  stable,  and  at  once  proceeded  to  worm 
his  way  down  the  tunnel.  That  was  the  end  of 
the  native.  His  wife,  finding  that  he  had  not 
returned  two  hours  or  so  later,  went  down  the 
newly  found  tunnel  after  him.  That  was  the  end 
of  her  also.    In  turn,  three  other  members  of  the 


Recent  Excavations  in  Egypt.  183 


family  went  down  into  the  darkness,  and  that  was 
the  end  of  them.  A  native  official  was  then 
called,  and,  lighting  his  way  with  a  candle,  pene- 
trated down  the  winding  passage.  The  air  was  so 
foul  that  he  was  soon  obliged  to  retreat,  but  he 
stated  that  he  was  just  able  to  see  in  the  distance 
ahead  the  bodies  of  the  unfortunate  peasants,  all 
of  whom  had  been  overcome  by  what  he  quaintly 
described  as  "  the  evil  lighting  and  bad  climate." 
Various  attempts  at  the  rescue  of  the  bodies 
having  failed,  we  gave  orders  that  this  tomb 
should  be  regarded  as  their  sepulchre,  and  that 
its  mouth  should  be  sealed  up.  According  to  the 
natives,  there  was  evidently  a  vast  hoard  of 
wealth  stored  at  the  bottom  of  this  tomb,  and 
the  would-be  robbers  had  met  their  death  at  the 
hands  of  the  demon  in  charge  of  it,  who  had 
seized  each  man  by  the  throat  as  he  came  down 
the  tunnel  and  had  strangled  him. 

The  Egyptian  peasants  have  a  very  strong  belief 
in  the  power  of  such  creatures  of  the  spirit  world. 
A  native  who  was  attempting  recently  to  discover 
hidden  treasure  in  a  certain  part  of  the  desert, 
sacrificed  a  lamb  each  night  above  the  spot  where 
he  believed  the  treasure  to  lie,  in  order  to  pro- 
pitiate the  djin  who  guarded  it.  On  the  other 
hand,  however,  they  have  no  superstition  as  re- 
gards the  sanctity  of  the  ancient  dead,  and  they 
do  not  hesitate  on  that  ground  to  rifle  the  tombs. 
Thousands  of  graves  iave  been  desecrated  by 
these  seekers  after  treasure,  and  it  is  very  largely 


184       Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


the  result  of  this  that  scientific  excavation  is  often 
so  fruitless  nowadays.  When  an  excavator  states 
that  he  has  discovered  a  tomb,  one  takes  it  for 
granted  that  he  means  a  plundered  tomb,  unless 
he  definitely  says  that  it  was  intact,  in  which  case 
one  calls  him  a  lucky  fellow  and  regards  him  with 
green  envy. 

And  thus  we  come  back  to  my  remarks  at  the 
beginning  of  this  chapter,  that  there  is  a  painful 
disillusionment  awaiting  the  man  who  comes  to 
dig  in  Egypt  in  the  hope  of  finding  the  golden 
cities  of  the  Pharaohs  or  the  bejewelled  bodies  of 
their  dead.  Of  the  latter  there  are  but  a  few  left 
to  be  found.  The  discovery  of  one  of  them  forms 
the  subject  of  the  next  chapter. 


i85 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  TOMB  OF  TIY  AND  AKHNATON.1 

In  January  1907  the  excavations  in  the  Valley  of 
the  Tombs  of  the  Kings  at  Thebes,  which  are 
being  conducted  each  year  by  Mr  Davis,  brought 
to  light  the  entrance  of  a  tomb  which,  by  its  style, 
appeared  to  be  that  of  a  royal  personage  of  the 
XVIIIth  Dynasty.  The  Valley  lies  behind  the 
cliffs  which  form  the  western  boundary  of  Thebes, 
and  is  approached  by  a  long  winding  road  running 
between  the  rocks  and  rugged  hills  of  the  Lybian 
desert.  Here  the  Pharaohs  of  the  XVIIIth  to  the 
XXth  Dynasties  were  buried  in  large  sepulchres 
cut  into  the  sides  of  the  hills ;  and  the  present 
excavations  have  for  their  object  the  removal  of 
the  debris  which  has  collected  at  the  foot  of  these 
hills,  in  order  that  the  tombs  hidden  beneath  may 
be  revealed.  About  sixty  tombs  are  now  open, 
some  of  which  were  already  known  to  Greek  and 

1  A  few  paragraphs  in  this  chapter  also  appear  in  my  'Life  and 
Times  of  Akhnaton,  Pharaoh  of  Egypt.'  (Wm.  Blackwood  &  Sons, 
1910.) 


1 86       Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


Roman  travellers ;  and  there  are  probably  not 
more  than  two  or  three  still  to  be  discovered. 

When  this  new  tomb  -  entrance  was  uncovered 
I  was  at  once  notified,  and  proceeded  with  all 
despatch  to  the  Valley.  It  was  not  long  before 
we  were  able  to  enter  the  tomb.  A  rough  stair- 
way led  down  into  the  hillside,  bringing  us  to  the 
mouth  of  a  passage  which  was  entirely  blocked  by 
a  wall  of  built  stones.  On  removing  this  wall  we 
found  ourselves  in  a  small  passage,  descending  at 
a  sharp  incline  to  a  chamber  which  could  be  seen  a 
few  yards  farther  on.  Instead  of  this  passage  being 
free  from  debris,  however,  as  we  had  expected  on 
finding  the  entrance-wall  intact,  it  was  partly  filled 
with  fallen  stones  which  seemed  to  be  the  ruins  of 
an  earlier  entrance- wall.  On  top  of  this  heap  of 
stones  lay  one  of  the  sides  of  a  large  funeral  shrine, 
almost  entirely  blocking  the  passage.  This  shrine, 
as  we  later  saw,  was  in  the  form  of  a  great  box-like 
sarcophagus,  made  of  cedar  -  wood  covered  with 
gold,  and  it  had  been  intended  as  an  outer  cover- 
ing for  the  coffin  of  the  deceased  person.  It  was, 
however,  not  put  together :  three  sides  of  it  were 
leaning  against  the  walls  of  the  burial -chamber, 
and  the  fourth  was  here  in  the  passage.  Either  it 
was  never  built  up,  or  else  it  was  in  process  of 
being  taken  out  of  the  tomb  again  when  the  work 
was  abandoned. 

To  pass  this  portion  of  the  shrine  which  lay  in 
the  passage  without  doing  it  damage  was  no  easy 
matter.    We  could  not  venture  to  move  it,  as  the 


Pl.  xviii. 


The  Tomb  of  Tiy  and  Akhnaton.  187 


wood  was  rotten ;  and  indeed,  for  over  a  year  it 
remained  in  its  original  position.  We  therefore 
made  a  bridge  of  planks  within  a  few  inches  of  the 
low  roof,  and  on  this  we  wriggled  ourselves  across 
into  the  unencumbered  passage  beyond.  In  the 
funeral-chamber,  besides  the  other  portions  of  the 
shrine,  we  found  at  one  corner  a  splendid  coffin,  in 
the  usual  form  of  a  recumbent  figure,  inlaid  in  a 
dazzling  manner  with  rare  stones  and  coloured  glass. 
The  coffin  had  originally  lain  upon  a  wooden  bier, 
in  the  form  of  a  lion-legged  couch ;  but  this  had 
collapsed  and  the  mummy  had  fallen  to  the  ground, 
the  lid  of  the  coffin  being  partly  thrown  off  by 
the  fall,  thus  exposing  the  head  and  feet  of  the 
body,  from  which  the  bandages  had  decayed  and 
fallen  off.  In  the  powerful  glare  of  the  electric  light 
which  we  carried,  the  bare  skull,  with  a  golden 
vulture  upon  it,  could  be  seen  protruding  from 
the  remains  of  the  linen  bandages  and  from  the 
sheets  of  flexible  gold-foil  in  which,  as  we  after- 
wards found,  the  whole  body  was  wrapped.  The 
inscription  on  the  coffin,  the  letters  of  which  were 
made  of  rare  stones,  gave  the  titles  of  Akhnaton, 
"  the  beautiful  child  of  the  Sun  " ;  but  turning  to 
the  shrine  we  found  other  inscriptions  stating  that 
King  Akhnaton  had  made  it  for  his  mother,  Queen 
Tiy,  and  thus  no  immediate  reply  could  be  given 
to  those  at  the  mouth  of  the  tomb  who  called  to 
us  to  know  which  of  the  Pharaoh's  of  Egypt  had 
been  found. 

In  a  recess  in  the  wall  above  the  body  there 


1 88      Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


stood  four  alabaster  "  canopy "  jars,  each  with  a 
lid  exquisitely  sculptured  in  the  form  of  a  human 
head.  In  another  corner  there  was  a  box  con- 
taining many  little  toilet  vases  and  utensils  of 
porcelain.  A  few  alabaster  vases  and  other 
objects  were  lying  in  various  parts  of  the  chamber, 
arranged  in  some  sort  of  rough  order. 

Nothing,  of  course,  could  yet  be  touched,  and 
for  several  days,  during  the  lengthy  process  of 
photographing  and  recording  the  contents  of  the 
tomb  in  situ,  no  further  information  could  be 
obtained  as  to  the  identity  of  the  owner  of  the 
tomb.  The  shrine  was  certainly  made  for  Queen 
Tiy,  and  so  too  were  the  toilet  utensils,  judging 
by  an  inscription  upon  one  of  them  which  gave  the 
names  of  Tiy  and  her  husband,  King  Amenhotep 
III.,  the  parents  of  Akhnaton.  It  was,  therefore, 
not  a  surprise  when  a  passing  doctor  declared  the 
much  broken  bones  to  be  those  of  a  woman — that 
is  to  say,  those  of  Queen  Tiy.  For  reasons  which 
will  presently  become  apparent,  it  had  been  diffi- 
cult to  believe  that  Akhnaton  could  have  been 
buried  in  this  Valley,  and  one  was  very  ready 
to  suppose  that  the  coffin  bearing  his  name  had 
but  been  given  by  him  to  his  mother. 

The  important  discovery  was  now  announced, 
and  caused  considerable  interest  and  excitement. 
At  the  end  of  the  winter  the  various  archaelogists 
departed  to  their  several  countries,  and  it  fell 
to  me  to  despatch  the  antiquities  to  the  Cairo 
Museum,  and  to  send  the  bones,  soaked  in  wax  to 


The  Tomb  of  Tiy  and  Akhnaton.  189 


prevent  their  breakage,  to  Dr  Elliot  Smith,  to  be 
examined  by  that  eminent  authority.  It  may  be 
imagined  that  my  surprise  was  considerable  when 
I  received  a  letter  from  him  reading — "  Are  you 
sure  that  the  bones  you  sent  me  are  those  which 
were  found  in  the  tomb  ?  Instead  of  the  bones  of 
an  old  woman,  you  have  sent  me  those  of  a  young- 
man.    Surely  there  is  some  mistake." 

There  was,  however,  no  mistake.  Dr  Elliot 
Smith  later  informed  me  that  the  bones  were  those 
of  a  young  man  of  about  twenty-eight  years  of 
age,  and  at  first  this  description  did  not  seem  to 
tally  with  that  of  Akhnaton,  who  was  always 
thought  to  have  been  a  man  of  middle  age.  But 
there  is  now  no  possibility  of  doubt  that  the  coffin 
and  mummy  were  those  of  this  extraordinary 
Pharaoh,  although  the  tomb  and  funeral  furniture 
belonged  to  Queen  Tiy.  Dr  Elliot  Smith's  decision 
was,  of  course,  somewhat  disconcerting  to  those 
who  had  written  of  the  mortal  remains  of  the 
great  Queen ;  but  it  is  difficult  to  speak  of  Tiy 
without  also  referring  to  her  famous  son  Akh- 
naton, and  in  these  articles  he  had  received  full 
mention. 

About  the  year  B.C.  1500  the  throne  of  Egypt 
fell  to  the  young  brother  of  Queen  Hatshepsut, 
Thutmosis  III.,  and  under  his  vigorous  rule  the 
country  rose  to  a  height  of  power  never  again 
equalled.  Amenhotep  II.  succeeded  to  an  empire 
which  extended  from  the  Sudan  to  the  Euphrates 
and  to  the  Greek  Islands  ;  and  when  he  died  he 


190      Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


left  these  great  possessions  almost  intact  to  his 
son,  Thutmosis  IV.,  the  grandfather  of  Akhnaton. 
It  is  important  to  notice  the  chronology  of  this 
period.  The  mummy  of  Thutmosis  IV.  has  been 
shown  by  Dr  Elliot  Smith  to  be  that  of  a  man 
of  not  more  than  twenty-six  years  of  age ;  but  we 
know  that  his  son  Amenhotep  III.  was  old  enough 
to  hunt  lions  at  about  the  time  of  his  father's 
death,  and  that  he  was  already  married  to  Queen 
Tiy  a  year  later.  Thus  one  must  suppose  that 
Thutmosis  IV.  was  a  father  at  the  age  of  thirteen 
or  fourteen,  and  that  Amenhotep  III.  was  mar- 
ried to  Tiy  at  about  the  same  age.  The  wife  of 
Thutmosis  IV.  was  probably  a  Syrian  princess, 
and  it  must  have  been  during  her  regency  that 
Amenhotep  III.  married  Tiy,  who  was  not  of 
royal  blood.  Amenhotep  and  Tiy  introduced  into 
Egypt  the  luxuries  of  Asia ;  and  during  their  bril- 
liant reign  the  Nile  Valley  was  more  open  to 
Syrian  influence  than  it  had  ever  been  before. 
The  language  of  Babylon  was  perhaps  the  Court 
tongue,  and  the  correspondence  was  written  in 
cuneiform  instead  of  in  the  hieratic  script  of  Egypt. 
Amenhotep  III.,  as  has  been  said,  was  probably 
partly  Asiatic ;  and  there  is,  perhaps,  some  reason 
to  suppose  that  Yuaa,  the  father  of  Queen  Tiy, 
was  also  a  Syrian.  One  has,  therefore,  to  picture 
the  Egyptian  Court  at  this  time  as  being  saturated 
with  foreign  ideas,  which  clashed  with  those  of  the 
orthodox  Egyptians. 

Queen  Tiy  bore  several  children  to  the  King ; 


The  Tomb  of  Tiy  and  Akhnaton.  191 


but  it  was  not  until  they  had  reigned  over  twenty 
years  that  a  son  and  heir  was  born,  whom  they 
named  Amenhotep,  that  being  changed  later  to 
Akhnaton.  It  is  probable  that  he  first  saw  the 
light  in  the  royal  palace  at  Thebes,  which  was 
situated  on  the  edge  of  the  desert  at  the  foot  of 
the  western  hills.  It  was  an  extensive  and  roomy 
structure,  lightly  built  and  gaily  decorated.  The 
ceiling  and  pavements  of  its  halls  were  fantas- 
tically painted  with  scenes  of  animal  life :  wild 
cattle  ran  through  reedy  swamps  beneath  one's 
feet,  and  many-coloured  fish  swam  in  the  water ; 
while  overhead  flights  of  pigeons,  white  against  a 
blue  sky,  passed  across  the  hall,  and  the  wild  duck 
hastened  towards  the  open  casements.  Through 
curtained  doorways  one  might  obtain  glimpses  of 
a  garden  planted  with  flowers  foreign  to  Egypt; 
and  on  the  east  of  the  palace  the  King  had  made 
a  great  pleasure-lake  for  the  Queen,  surrounded  by 
the  trees  of  Asia.  Here,  floating  in  her  golden 
barge,  which  was  named  Aton-gleams,  the  Queen 
might  look  westwards  over  the  tree-tops  to  the 
splendid  Theban  hills  towering  above  the  palace, 
and  eastwards  to  the  green  valley  of  the  Nile  and 
the  three  great  limestone  hills  beyond.  Amen- 
hotep III.  has  been  rightly  called  the  "Magnifi- 
cent," and  one  may  well  believe  that  his  son 
Akhnaton  was  born  to  the  sound  of  music  and 
to  the  clink  of  golden  wine-cups.  Fragments  of 
countless  thousands  of  wine-jars  and  blue  fayence 
drinking- vessels  have  been  found  in  the  ruins  of 


192       Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


the  palace ;  and  contemporary  objects  and  paint- 
ings show  us  some  of  the  exquisitely  wrought 
bowls  of  gold  and  silver  which  must  have  graced 
the  royal  tables,  and  the  charming  toilet  utensils 
which  were  to  be  found  in  the  sleeping  apart- 
ments. 

While  the  luxurious  Court  rejoiced  at  the  birth 
of  this  Egypto- Asiatic  prince,  one  feels  that  the 
ancient  priesthood  of  Amon-Ra  must  have  stood 
aloof,  and  must  have  looked  askance  at  the  baby 
who  was  destined  one  day  to  be  their  master. 
This  priesthood  was  perhaps  the  proudest  and 
most  conservative  community  which  conservative 
Egypt  ever  produced.  It  demanded  implicit 
obedience  to  its  stiff  and  ancient  conventions, 
and  it  refused  to  recognise  the  growing  tendency 
towards  religious  speculation.  One  of  the  great 
gods  of  Syria  was  Aton,  the  god  of  the  sun  ;  and 
his  recognition  at  the  Theban  Court  was  a  source 
of  constant  irritation  to  the  ministers  of  Amon-Ra. 

Probably  they  would  have  taken  stronger  meas- 
ures to  resist  this  foreign  god  had  it  not  been  for 
the  fact  that  Atum  of  Heliopolis,  an  ancient  god 
of  Egypt,  was  on  the  one  hand  closely  akin  to  Ra, 
the  associated  deity  with  Amon,  and  on  the  other 
hand  to  Aton  of  Syria.  Thus  Aton  might  be  re- 
garded merely  as  another  name  for  Ra  or  Amon- 
Ea  ;  but  the  danger  to  the  old  regime  lay  in  the 
fact  that  with  the  worship  of  Aton  there  went 
a  certain  amount  of  freethought.  The  sun  and 
its  warm  rays  were  the  heritage  of  all  mankind  ; 


[Photo  by  E.  Brugsch  Pasha. 

Toilet-spoons  of  carved  wood,  discovered  in  tombs  of  the  Eighteenth 
Dynasty.    That  on  the  right  has  a  movable  lid. — Cairo  Museum. 


Pl.  xix. 


The  Tomb  of  Tiy  and  Akhnaton.  193 


and  the  speculative  mind  of  the  Asiatic,  always  in 
advance  of  the  less  imaginative  Egyptian,  had  not 
failed  to  collect  to  the  Aton- worship  a  number  of 
semi-philosophical  teachings  far  broader  than  the 
strict  doctrines  of  Amon-Ra  could  tolerate. 

There  is  much  reason  to  suppose  that  Queen  Tiy 
was  the  prime  factor  in  the  new  movement.  It 
may,  perhaps,  be  worth  noting  that  her  father 
was  a  priest  of  the  Egyptian  god  Min,  who  corre- 
sponded to  the  North  Syrian  Aton  in  his  capacity 
as  a  god  of  vegetation  ;  and  she  may  have  imbibed 
something  of  the  broader  doctrines  from  him.  It 
is  the  barge  upon  her  pleasure-lake  which  is  called 
Aton-gleams,  and  it  is  her  private  artist  who  is 
responsible  for  one  of  the  first  examples  of  the 
new  style  of  art  which  begins  to  appear  at  this 
period.  Egyptian  art  was  bound  down  by  con- 
ventions jealously  guarded  by  the  priesthood,  and 
the  slight  tendency  to  break  away  from  these, 
which  now  becomes  apparent,  is  another  sign  of 
the  broadening  of  thought  under  the  reign  of 
Amenhotep  III.  and  Tiy. 

King  Amenhotep  III.  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  a  man  of  strong  character,  and  in  the  changes 
which  took  place  at  this  time  he  does  not  appear 
to  have  taken  so  very  large  a  part.  He  always 
showed  the  most  profound  respect  for,  and  devotion 
to,  his  Queen  ;  and  one  is  inclined  to  regard  him  as 
a  tool  in  her  hands.  According  to  some  accounts 
he  reigned  only  thirty  years,  but  ' there  are  con- 
temporary monuments  dated  in  his  thirty -sixth 

N 


194      Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


year,  and  it  seems  probable  that  for  the  last  few 
years  he  was  reigning  only  in  name,  and  that 
in  reality  his  ministers,  under  the  regency  of 
Queen  Tiy,  governed  the  land.  Amenhotep  III. 
was  perhaps  during  his  last  years  insane  or  stricken 
with  some  paralytic  disease,  for  we  read  of  an 
Asiatic  monarch  sending  a  miracle-working  image 
to  Egypt,  apparently  for  the  purpose  of  attempting 
to  cure  him.  It  must  have  been  during  these  six 
years  of  absolute  power,  while  Akhnaton  was  a 
boy,  that  the  Queen  pushed  forward  her  reforms 
and  encouraged  the  breaking  down  of  the  old 
traditions,  especially  those  relating  to  the  worship 
of  Amon-Ha. 

Amenhotep  III.  died  in  about  the  forty-ninth 
year  of  his  age,  after  a  total  reign  of  thirty-six 
years ;  and  Akhnaton,  who  still  bore  the  name 
of  Amenhotep,  ascended  the  throne.  One  must 
picture  him  now  as  an  enthusiastic  boy,  filled  with 
the  new  thought  of  the  age.  and  burning  to  assert 
the  broad  doctrines  which  he  had  learned  from  his 
mother  and  her  friends,  in  defiance  of  the  priests 
of  Amon-Ra.  He  was  already  married  to  a  Syrian 
princess  named  Nefertiti,  and  certainly  before  he 
was  fifteen  years  of  age  he  was  the  father  of  two 
daughters. 

The  new  Pharaoh's  first  move,  under  the  guid- 
ance of  Tiy,  was  to  proclaim  Aton  the  only  true 
god,  and  to  name  himself  high  priest  of  that  deity. 
He  then  began  to  build  a  temple  dedicated  to 
Aton  at  Karnak ;  but  it  must  have  been  distaste- 


The  Tomb  of  Tiy  and  Akhnaton.  195 


ful  to  observe  how  overshadowed  and  dwarfed  was 
this  new  temple  by  the  mighty  buildings  in  honour 
of  the  older  gods  which  stood  there.  Moreover, 
there  must  have  been  very  serious  opposition  to 
the  new  religion  in  Thebes,  where  Amon  had  ruled 
for  so  many  centuries  unchallenged.  In  whatever 
direction  he  looked  he  was  confronted  with  some 
evidence  of  the  worship  of  Amon-Ra  :  he  might 
proclaim  Aton  to  be  the  only  god,  but  Amon  and 
a  hundred  other  deities  stared  down  at  him  from 
every  temple  wall.  He  and  his  advisers,  therefore, 
decided  to  abandon  Thebes  altogether  and  to  found 
a  new  capital  elsewhere. 

Akhnaton  selected  a  site  for  the  new  city  on 
the  west  bank  of  the  river,  at  a  point  now  named 
El  Amarna,  about  160  miles  above  Cairo.  Here 
the  hills  recede  from  the  river,  forming  a  bay 
about  three  miles  deep  and  five  long ;  and  in  this 
bay  the  young  Pharaoh  decided  to  build  his 
capital,  which  was  named  "  Horizon  of  Aton." 
With  feverish  speed  the  new  buildings  were 
erected.  A  palace  even  more  beautiful  than  that 
of  his  parents  at  Thebes  was  prepared  for  him ; 
a  splendid  temple  dedicated  to  Aton  was  set  up 
amidst  a  garden  of  rare  trees  and  brilliant  flowers  ; 
villas  for  his  nobles  were  erected,  and  streets  were 
laid  out.  Queen  Tiy,  who  seems  to  have  con- 
tinued to  live  at  Thebes,  often  came  down  to 
El  Amarna  to  visit  her  son ;  but  it  seems  to 
have  been  at  his  own  wish  rather  than  at  her 
advice   that  he  now  took   the   important  step 


1 


196      Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


which  set  the  seal  of  his  religion  upon  his 
life. 

Around  the  bay  of  El  Amarna,  on  the  cliffs 
which  shut  it  off  so  securely,  the  King  caused 
landmarks  to  be  made  at  intervals,  and  on  these 
he  inscribed  an  oath  which  some  have  interpreted 
to  mean  that  he  would  never  again  leave  his  new 
city.  He  would  remain,  like  the  Pope  in  the 
Vatican,  for  the  rest  of  his  days  within  the  limits 
of  this  bay ;  and,  rather  than  be  distracted  by  the 
cares  of  state  and  the  worries  of  empire,  he  would 
shut  himself  up  with  his  god  and  would  devote  his 
life  to  his  religion.  He  was  but  a  youth  still, 
and,  to  his  inexperienced  mind,  this  oath  seemed 
nothing ;  nor  in  his  brief  life  does  it  seem  that  he 
broke  it,  though  at  times  he  must  have  longed 
to  visit  his  domains. 

The  religion  which  this  boy,  who  now  called 
himself  Akhnaton,  "The  Glory  of  Aton,"  taught 
was  by  no  means  the  simple  worship  of  the  sun. 
It  was,  without  question,  the  most  enlightened 
religion  which  the  world  at  that  time  had  ever 
known.  The  young  priest-king  called  upon  man- 
kind to  worship  the  unknown  power  which  is  be- 
hind the  sun,  that  power  of  which  the  brilliant 
sun  was  the  visible  symbol,  and  which  might 
be  discerned  in  the  fertilising  warmth  of  the  sun's 
rays.  Aton  was  originally  the  actual  sun's  disk  ; 
but  Akhnaton  called  his  god  "Heat  which  is  in 
Aton,"  and  thus  drew  the  eyes  of  his  followers 
towards  a  Force  far  more  intangible  and  distant 


The  Tomb  of  Tiy  and  Akhnaton.  197 


than  the  dazzling  orb  to  which  they  bowed  down. 
Akhnaton's  god  was  the  force  which  created  the 
sun,  the  something  which  penetrated  to  this  earth 
in  the  suns  heat  and  caused  the  vegetation  to 
grow. 

Amon-Ka  and  the  gods  of  Egypt  were  for  the 
most  part  but  deified  mortals,  endued  with  mons- 
trous, though  limited,  power,  and  still  having 
around  them  traditions  of  exaggerated  human 
deeds.  Others  had  their  origin  in  natural  pheno- 
mena— the  wind,  the  Nile,  the  sky,  and  so  on. 
All  were  terrific,  revengeful,  and  able  to  be 
moved  by  human  emotions.  But  Akhnaton's  god 
was  the  intangible  and  yet  ever-present  Father 
of  mankind,  made  manifest  in  sunshine.  The 
youthful  High  Priest  called  upon  his  followers 
to  search  for  their  god  not  in  the  confusion  of 
battle  or  behind  the  smoke  of  human  sacrifices, 
but  amidst  the  flowers  and  trees,  amidst  the 
wild  duck  and  the  fishes.  He  preached  an  en- 
lightened nature  -  study ;  he  was  perhaps  the 
first  apostle  of  the  Simple  Life.  He  strove  to 
break  down  conventional  religion,  and  ceaselessly 
urged  his  people  to  worship  in  Truth,  simply, 
without  an  excess  of  ceremonial.  While  the 
elder  gods  had  been  manifest  in  natural  convul- 
sions and  in  the  more  awful  incidents  of  life, 
Akhnaton's  kindly  god  could  be  seen  in  the  chick 
which  broke  out  of  its  egg,  in  the  wind  which 
filled  the  sails  of  the  ships,  in  the  fish  which 
leapt  from  the  water.    Aton  was  the  joy  which 


198      Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


caused  the  young  sheep  "  to  dance  upon  their 
feet,"  and  the  birds  to  "flutter  in  their  marshes." 
He  was  the  god  of  the  simple  pleasures  of  life, 
and  Truth  was  the  watchword  of  his  followers. 

It  may  be  understood  how  the  boy  longed  for 
truth  in  all  things  when  one  remembers  the 
thousand  exaggerated  conventions  of  Egyptian 
life  at  this  time.  Court  etiquette  had  developed 
to  a  degree  which  rendered  life  to  the  Pharaoh 
an  endless  round  of  unnatural  poses  of  mind  and 
body.  In  the  preaching  of  his  doctrine  of  truth 
and  simplicity,  Akhnaton  did  not  fail  to  call 
upon  his  subjects  to  regard  their  Pharaoh  not 
as  a  god  but  as  a  man.  It  was  usual  for  the 
Pharaoh  to  keep  aloof  from  his  people :  Akh- 
naton was  to  be  found  in  their  midst.  The 
Court  demanded  that  their  lord  should  drive  in 
solitary  state  through  the  city :  Akhnaton  sat 
in  his  chariot  with  his  wife  and  children,  and 
allowed  the  artist  to  represent  him  joking  with 
his  little  daughter,  who  has  mischievously  poked 
the  horses  with  a  stick.  In  representing  the 
Pharaoh,  the  artist  was  expected  to  draw  him 
in  some  conventional  attitude  of  dignity :  Akh- 
naton insisted  upon  being  shown  in  all  manner 
of  natural  attitudes — now  leaning  languidly  upon 
a  staff,  now  nursing  his  children,  and  now  caress- 
ing his  wife. 

As  has  been  said,  one  of  the  first  artists  to  break 
away  from  the  ancient  conventions  was  in  the 
service  of  Queen  Tiy,  and  was  probably  under  her 
influence.    But  in  the  radical  change  in  the  art 


The  Tomb  of  Tiy  and  Akhnaton.  199 


which  took  place,  Akhnaton  is  definitely  stated 
to  have  been  the  leader,  and  the  new  school 
acknowledge  that  they  were  taught  by  the  King. 
The  new  art  is  extraordinary,  and  it  must  be 
owned  that  its  merit  lies  rather  in  its  originality 
than  in  its  beauty.  An  attempt  is  made  to  do 
away  with  the  prescribed  attitudes  and  the  strict 
proportions,  and  to  portray  any  one  individual 
with  -his  natural  defects.  Some  of  the  sculptured 
heads,  however,  which  have  come  down  to  us,  and 
notably  the  four  "  canopic "  heads  found  in  this 
tomb,  are  of  wonderful  beauty,  and  have  no  trace 
of  traditional  mannerisms,  though  they  are  highly 
idealised.  The  King's  desire  for  light-heartedness 
led  him  to  encourage  the  use  of  bright  colours  and 
gay  "decorations  in  the  palace.  Some  of  the  ceiling 
and  pavement  paintings  are  of  great  beauty,  while 
the  walls  and  pillars  inlaid  with  coloured  stones 
must  have  given  a  brilliancy  to  the  halls  un- 
equalled in  Egypt  at  any  previous  time. 

The  group  of  nobles  who  formed  the  King's 
Court  had  all  sacrificed  much  in  coming  to  the 
new  capital.  Their  estates  around  Thebes  had 
been  left,  their  houses  abandoned,  and  the  tombs 
which  were  in  process  of  being  made  for  them 
in  the  Theban  hills  had  been  rendered  useless. 
The  King,  therefore,  showered  favours  upon 
them,  and  at  his  expense  built  their  houses  and 
constructed  sepulchres  for  them.  It  is  on  the 
walls  of  these  tombs  that  one  obtains  the  main 
portion  of  one's  information  regarding  the  teach- 
ings  of  this   wonderful  youth,  who   was  now 


200      Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


growing  into  manhood.  Here  are  inscribed  those 
beautiful  hymns  to  Aton  which  rank  so  high  in 
ancient  literature.  It  is  unfortunate  that  space 
does  not  allow  more  than  a  few  extracts  from 
the  hymns  to  be  quoted  here ;  but  something  of 
their  beauty  may  be  realised  from  these.  (Pro- 
fessor Breasted's  translation.) 

"  Thy  dawning  is  beautiful  in  the  horizon  of  heaven, 
0  living  Aton,  Beginning  of  life ! 
"When  thou  risest  in  the  eastern  horizon  of  heaven 
Thou  fillest  every  land  with  thy  beauty." 

"Though  thou  art  afar,  thy  rays  are  on  earth; 
Though  thou  art  on  high,  thy  footprints  are  the  day." 

"  When  thou  settest  in  the  western  horizon  of  heaven 
The  world  is  in  darkness  like  the  dead. 
Men  sleep  in  their  chambers,  their  heads  are  wrapt  up. 
Every  lion  cometh  forth  from  his  den. 
The  serpents,  they  sting. 
Darkness  reigns,  the  world  is  in  silence  : 
He  that  made  them  has  gone  to  rest  in  his  horizon." 

"  Bright  is  the  earth  when  thou  risest  in  the  horizon  .  •  . 
When  thou  sendest  forth  thy  rays 
The  two  lands  of  Egypt  are  in  daily  festivity, 
Awake  and  standing  upon  their  feet, 
For  thou  hast  raised  them  up. 
Their  limbs  bathed,  they  take  their  clothing, 
Their  arms  uplifted  in  adoration  to  thy  dawning. 
Then  in  all  the  world  they  do  their  work." 

"  All  cattle  rest  upon  their  herbage,  all  trees  and  plants  nourish. 
The  birds  nutter  in  their  marshes,  their  wings  uplifted  in 

adoration  to  thee. 
All  the  sheep  dance  upon  their  feet, 

All  winged  things  fly ;  they  live  when  thou  hast  shone  upon 
them." 


The  Tomb  of  Tiy  and  Akhnaton.  201 


"  The  barques  sail  up-stream  and  down-stream  alike,  .  ,  . 
The  fish  in  the  river  leap  up  before  thee, 
And  thy  rays  are  in  the  midst  of  the  great  sea.,, 

"  Thou  art  he  "who  createst  the  man-child  in  woman  .  .  • 
Who  ,giveth  life  to  the  son  in  the  body  of  his  mother; 
Who  soothest  him  that  he  may  not  weep, 
A  nurse  even  in  the  womb." 

"  When  the  chick  crieth  in  the  egg-shell, 
Thou  givest  him  breath  therein  to  preserve  him  alive  .  .  • 
He  cometh  forth  from  the  egg,  to  chirp  with  all  his  might. 
He  runneth  about  upon  his  two  feet." 

"  How  manifold  are  all  thy  works  ! 
They  are  hidden  from  before  us." 

There  are  several  verses  of  this  hymn  which  are 
almost  identical  with  Psalm  civ.,  and  those  who 
study  it  closely  will  be  forced  to  one  of  two  con- 
clusions :  either  that  Psalm  civ.  is  derived  from 
this  hymn  of  the  young  Pharaoh,  or  that  both  are 
derived  from  some  early  Syrian  hymn  to  the  sun. 
Akhnaton  may  have  only  adapted  this  early  psalm 
to  local  conditions ;  though,  on  the  other  hand,  a 
man  capable  of  bringing  to  pass  so  great  a  reli- 
gious revolution  in  Egypt  may  well  be  credited 
with  the  authorship  of  this  splendid  song.  There 
is  no  evidence  to  show  that  it  was  written  before 
the  King  had  reached  manhood. 

Queen  Tiy  probably  did  not  now  take  any  fur- 
ther part  in  a  movement  which  had  got  so  far  out 
of  her  hands.  She  was  now  nearly  sixty  years 
old,  and  this,  to  one  who  had  been  a  mother  so 
early  in  life,  was  a  considerable  age.  It  seems 
that  she  sometimes  paid  visits  to  her  son  at  El 


202      Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


Amarna,  but  her  interest  lay  in  Thebes,  where  she 
had  once  held  so  brilliant  a  Court.  When  at  last 
she  died,  therefore,  it  is  not  surprising  to  find 
that  she  was  buried  in  the  Valley  of  the  Tombs 
of  the  Kings.  The  tomb  which  has  been  de- 
scribed above  is  most  probably  her  original 
sepulchre,  and  here  her  body  was  placed  in  the 
golden  shrine  made  for  her  by  Akhnaton,  sur- 
rounded by  the  usual  funeral  furniture.  She  thus 
lay  no  more  than  a  stone's  throw  from  her  parents, 
whose  tomb  was  discovered  two  years  ago,  and 
which  was  of  very  similar  size  and  shape. 

After  her  death,  although  preaching  this  gentle 
creed  of  love  and  simple  truth,  Akhnaton  waged 
a  bitter  and  stern  war  against  the  priesthoods  of 
the  old  gods.  It  may  be  that  the  priesthoods  of 
Amon  had  again  attempted  to  overthrow  the  new 
doctrines,  or  had  in  some  manner  called  down  the 
particular  wrath  of  the  Pharaoh.  He  issued  an 
order  that  the  name  of  Amon  was  to  be  erased 
and  obliterated  wherever  it  was  found,  and  his 
agents  proceeded  to  hack  it  out  on  all  the  temple 
walls.  The  names  also  of  other  gods  were  erased  ; 
and  it  is  noticeable  in  this  tomb  that  the  word 
mut,  meaning  "mother,"  was  carefully  spelt  in 
hieroglyphs  which  would  have  no  similarity  to 
those  used  in  the  word  Mut,  the  goddess-consort 
of  Amon.  The  name  of  Amenhotep  III.,  his  own 
father,  did  not  escape  the  King's  wrath,  and  the 
first  syllables  were  everywhere  erased. 

As  the  years  went  by  Akhnaton  seems  to  have 


The  Tomb  of  Tiy  and  Akhnaton.  203 


given  himself  more  and  more  completely  to  his 
new  religion.  He  had  now  so  trained  one  of  his 
nobles,  named  Merira,  in  the  teachings  of  Aton 
that  he  was  able  to  hand  over  to  him  the  high 
priesthood  of  that  god,  and  to  turn  his  attention 
to  the  many  other  duties  which  he  had  imposed 
upon  himself.  In  rewarding  Merira,  the  King  is 
related  to  have  said,  "  Hang  gold  at  his  neck 
before  and  behind,  and  gold  on  his  legs,  because 
of  his  hearing  the  teaching  of  Pharaoh  concerning 
every  saying  in  these  beautiful  places."  Another 
official  whom  Akhnaton  greatly  advanced  says : 
"?My  lord  advanced  me  because  I  have  carried  out 
his  teaching,  and  I  hear  his  word  without  ceas- 
ing." The  King's  doctrines  were  thus  beginning 
to  take  hold ;  but  one  feels,  nevertheless,  that  the 
nobles  followed  their  King  rather  for  the  sake  of 
their  material  gains  than  for  the  spiritual  comforts 
of  the  Aton-worship.  There  is  reason  to  suppose 
that  at  least  one  of  these  nobles  was  degraded  and 
banished  from  the  city. 

But  while  Akhnaton  was  preaching  peace  and 
goodwill  amidst  the  flowers  of  the  temple  of  Aton, 
his  generals  in  Asia  Minor  were  vainly  struggling 
to  hold  together  the  great  empire  created  by 
Thutmosis  III.  Akhnaton  had  caused  a  temple 
of  Aton  to  be  erected  at  one  point  in  Syria  at 
least,  but  in  other  respects  he  took  little  or  no 
interest  in  the  welfare  of  his  foreign  dominions. 
War  was  not  tolerated  in  his  doctrine  :  it  was  a 
sin  to  take  away  life  which  the  good  Father  had 


204      Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


given.  One  pictures  the  hardened  soldiers  of  the 
empire  striving  desperately  to  hold  the  nations  of 
Asia  faithful  to  the  Pharaoh  whom  they  never 
saw.  The  small  garrisons  were  scattered  far  and 
wide  over  Syria,  and  constantly  they  sent  messen- 
gers to  the  Pharaoh  asking  at  least  for  some  sign 
that  he  held  them  in  mind. 

There  is  no  more  pathetic  page  of  ancient  his- 
tory than  that  which  tells  of  the  fall  of  the  Egyp- 
tian Empire.    The  Amorites,  advancing  along  the 
sea- coast,  took  city  after  city  from  the  Egyptians 
almost  without  a  struggle.    The  chiefs  of  Tunip 
wrote  an  appeal  for  help  to  the  King:  *  'To  the 
King  of  Egypt,  my  lord, — The  inhabitants  of 
Tunip,  thy  servant."    The  plight  of  the  city  is 
described    and    reinforcements    are    asked  for. 
"  And   now,"   it    continues,    "  Tunip    thy  city 
weeps,  and  her  tears  are  flowing,  and.  there  is 
no  help  for  us.    For  twenty  years  we  have  been 
sending  to  our  lord  the  King,  the  King  of  Egypt, 
but  there  has  not  come  a  word  to  us,  no,  not  one." 
The  messengers  of  the  beleaguered  city  must  have 
found  the  King  absorbed  in  his  religion,  and  must 
have  seen  only  priests  of  the  sun  where  they  had 
hoped  to  find  the  soldiers  of  former  days.  The 
Egyptian   governor   of  Jerusalem,  attacked  by 
Aramaeans,  writes  to  the  Pharaoh,  saying :  "  Let 
the  King  take  care  of  his  land,  and  ...  let  him 
send  troops.  .  .  .  For  if  no  troops  come  in  this 
year,  the  whole  territory  of  my  lord  the  King  will 
perish."    To  this  letter  is  added  a  note  to  the 


The  Tomb  of  Tiy  and  Akhnaton.  205 

King's  secretary,  which  reads,  "  Bring  these  words 
plainly  before  my  lord  the  King  :  the  whole  land 
of  my  lord  the  King  is  going  to  ruin." 

So  city  after  city  fell,  and  the  empire,  won  at 
such  cost,  was  gradually  lost  to  the  Egyptians. 
It  is  probable  that  Akhnaton  had  not  realised  how 
serious  was  the  situation  in  Asia  Minor.  A  few 
of  the  chieftains  who  were  not  actually  in  arms 
against  him  had  written  to  him  every  now  and 
then  assuring  him  that  all  was  well  in  his  do- 
minions ;  and,  strange  to  relate,  the  tribute  of 
many  of  the  cities  had  been  regularly  paid.  The 
Asiatic  princes,  in  fact,  had  completely  fooled  the 
Pharaoh,  and  had  led  him  to  believe  that  the 
nations  were  loyal  while  they  themselves  prepared 
for  rebellion.  Akhnaton,  hating  violence,  had 
been  only  too  ready  to  believe  that  the  de- 
spatches from  Tunip  and  elsewhere  were  un- 
justifiably pessimistic.  He  had  hoped  to  bind 
together  the  many  countries  under  his  rule,  by 
giving  them  a  single  religion.  He  had  hoped  that 
when  Aton  should  be  worshipped  in  all  parts  of 
his  empire,  and  when  his  simple  doctrines  of  love, 
truth,  and  peace  should  be  preached  from  every 
temple  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  his 
dominions,  then  war  would  cease  and  a  unity  of 
faith  would  hold  the  lands  in  harmony  one  with 
the  other. 

When,  therefore,  the  tribute  suddenly  ceased, 
and  the  few  refugees  came  staggering  home  to 
tell  of  the  perfidy  of  the  Asiatic  princes  and  the 


2o6      Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


fall  of  the  empire,  Akhnaton  seems  to  have 
received  his  deathblow.  He  was  now  not  more 
than  twenty-eight  years  of  age ;  and  though  his 
portraits  show  that  his  face  was  already  lined 
with  care,  and  that  his  body  was  thinner  than 
it  should  have  been,  he  seems  to  have  had  plenty 
of  reserve  strength.  He  was  the  father  of  several 
daughters,  but  his  queen  had  borne  him  no  son 
to  succeed  him ;  and  thus  he  must  have  felt  that 
his  religion  could  not  outlive  him.  With  his 
empire  lost,  with  Thebes  his  enemy,  and  with 
his  treasury  wellnigh  empty,  one  feels  that 
Akhnaton  must  have  sunk  to  the  very  depths 
of  despondency.  His  religious  revolution  had 
ruined  Egypt,  and  had  failed :  did  he,  one 
wonders,  find  consolation  in  the  sunshine  and 
amidst  the  flowers  ? 

His  death  followed  speedily ;  and,  resting  in 
the  splendid  coffin  in  which  we  found  him,  he 
was  laid  in  the  tomb  prepared  for  him  in  the 
hills  behind  his  new  capital.  The  throne  fell  to 
the  husband  of  one  of  his  daughters,  Smenkhkara, 
who,  after  an  ephemeral  reign,  gave  place;  to 
another  of  the  sons-in-law  of  Akhnaton,  named 
Tutankhaton.  This  king  was  speedily  persuaded 
to  change  his  name  to  Tutankhamon,  to  abandon 
the  worship  of  Aton,  and  to  return  to  Thebes. 
Akhnaton's  city  fell  into  ruins,  and  soon  the 
temples  and  palaces  had  become  the  haunt  of 
jackals  and  the  home  of  owls.  The  nobles 
returned  with  their  new  king  to   Thebes,  and 


Pl.  xx. 


The  Tomb  of  Tiy  and  Akhnaton.  207 


not  one  remained  faithful  to  those  * 1  teachings " 
to  which  they  had  once  pretended  to  be  such 
earnest  listeners. 

The  fact  that  the  body  in  the  new  tomb  was 
that  of  Akhnaton,  and  not  of  Queen  Tiy,  gives 
a  new  reading  to  the  history  of  the  burial.  When 
Tutankhamon  returned  to  Thebes,  Akhnaton's 
memory  was  still,  it  appears,  regarded  with 
reverence,  and  it  seems  that  there  was  no  ques- 
tion of  leaving  his  body  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  his  deserted  palace,  where,  until  the  discovery 
of  this  tomb,  Egyptologists  had  expected  to  find 
it.  It  was  carried  to  Thebes,  together  with  some 
of  the  funeral  furniture,  and  was  placed  in  the 
tomb  of  Queen  Tiy,  which  had  been  reopened 
for  the  purpose.  But  after  some  years  had 
passed  and  the  priesthood  of  Amon  -  Ra  had 
again  asserted  itself,  Akhnaton  began  to  be 
regarded  as  a  heretic  and  as  the  cause  of  the 
loss  of  Egypt's  Asiatic  dominions.  These  senti- 
ments were  vigorously  encouraged  by  the  priest- 
hood, and  soon  Akhnaton  came  to  be  spoken  of 
as  "that  criminal,"  and  his  name  was  obliterated 
from  his  monuments.  It  was  now  felt  that  his 
body  could  no  longer  lie  in  state  together  with 
that  of  Queen  Tiy  in  the  Valley  of  the  Tombs 
of  the  Kings.  The  sepulchre  was  therefore  opened 
once  more,  and  the  name  Akhnaton  was  every- 
where erased  from  the  inscriptions.  The  tomb, 
polluted  by  the  presence  of  the  heretic,  was  no 
longer  fit  for  Tiy,  and  the  body  of  the  Queen 


2o8      Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


was  therefore  carried  elsewhere,  perhaps  to  the 
tomb  of  her  husband  Amenhotep  III.  The  shrine 
in  which  her  mummy  had  lain  was  pulled  to 
pieces  and  an  attempt  was  made  to  carry  it  out 
of  the  tomb ;  but  this  arduous  task  was  presently 
abandoned,  and  one  portion  of  the  shrine  was  left 
in  the  passage,  where  we  found  it.  The  body  of 
Akhnaton,  his  name  erased,  was  now  the  sole 
occupant  of  the  tomb.  The  entrance  was  blocked 
with  stones,  and  sealed  with  the  seal  of  Tutan- 
khamon,  a  fragment  of  which  was  found;  and 
it  was  in  this  condition  that  it  was  discovered 
in  1907. 

The  bones  of  this  extraordinary  Pharaoh  are 
in  the  Cairo  Museum ;  but,  in  deference  to  the 
sentiments  of  many  worthy  persons,  they  are 
not  exhibited.  The  visitor  to  that  museum, 
however,  may  now  see  the  "canopic"  jars,  the 
alabaster  vases,  the  gold  vulture,  the  gold  neck- 
lace, the  sheets  of  gold  in  which  the  body  was 
wrapped,  the  toilet  utensils,  and  .parts  of  the 
shrine,  all  of  which  we  found  in  the  burial- 
chamber 


209 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  TOMB  OF  HOREMHEB. 

In  the  last  chapter  a  discovery  was  recorded 
which,  as  experience  has  shown,  is  of  consider- 
able interest  to  the  general  reader.  The  romance 
and  the  tragedy  of  the  life  of  Akhnaton  form  a 
really  valuable  addition  to  the  store  of  good  things 
which  is  our  possession,  and  which  the  archaeologist 
so  diligently  labours  to  increase.  Curiously  enough, 
another  discovery,  that  of  the  tomb  of  Horemheb, 
was  made  by  the  same  explorer  (Mr  Davis)  in 
1908  ;  and  as  it  forms  the  natural  sequel  to  the 
previous  chapter,  I  may  be  permitted  to  record 
it  here. 

Akhnaton  was  succeeded  by  Smenkhkara,  his 
son-in-law,  who,  after  a  brief  reign,  gave  place 
to  Tutankhamon,  during  whose  short  life  the  court 
returned  to  Thebes.  A  certain  noble  named  Ay 
came  next  to  the  throne,  but  held  it  for  only 
three  years.  The  country  was  now  in  a  chaotic 
condition,  and  was  utterly  upset  and  disorganised 
by  the  revolution  of  Akhnaton,  and  by  the  vacil- 
lating policy  of  the  three  weak  kings  who  suc- 

o 


2io      Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


ceeded  him,  each  reigning  for  so  short  a  time- 
One  cannot  say  to  what  depths  of  degradation 
Egypt  might  have  sunk  had  it  not  been  for  the 
timely  appearance  of  Horemheb,  a  wise  and  good 
ruler,  who,  though  but  a  soldier  of  not  particularly 
exalted  birth,  managed  to  raise  himself  to  the 
vacant  throne,  and  succeeded  in  so  organising  the 
country  once  more  that  his  successors,  Rameses  L, 
Sety  I.,  and  Rameses  II.,  were  able  to  regain  most 
of  the  lost  dominions,  and  to  place  Egypt  at  the 
head  of  the  nations  of  the  world. 

Horemheb,  "The  Hawk  in  Festival,"  was  born 
at  Alabastronpolis,  a  city  of  the  18th  Province  of 
Upper  Egypt,  during  the  reign  of  Amenhotep  III., 
who  has  rightly  been  named  "  The  Magnificent," 
and  in  whose  reign  Egypt  was  at  once  the  most 
powerful,  the  most  wealthy,  and  the  most  luxurious 
country  in  the  world.  There  is  reason  to  suppose 
that  Horemheb's  family  were  of  noble  birth,  and 
it  is  thought  by  some  that  an  inscription  which 
calls  King  Thutmosis  III.  "the  father  of  his 
fathers"  is  to  be  taken  literally  to  mean  that 
that  old  warrior  was  his  great-  or  great -great- 
grandfather. The  young  noble  was  probably 
educated  at  the  splendid  court  of  Amenhotep 
III.,  where  the  wit  and  intellect  of  the  world 
was  congregated,  and  where,  under  the  presi- 
dency of  the  beautiful  Queen  Tiy,  life  slipped 
by  in  a  round  of  revels. 

As  an  impressionable  young  man,  Horemheb 
must  have  watched  the  gradual  development  of 


The  Tomb  of  Horemheb. 


21  I 


freethought  in  the  palace,  and  the  ever-increas- 
ing irritation  and  chafing  against  the  bonds  of 
religious  convention  which  bound  all  Thebans  to 
the  worship  of  the  god  Amon.  Judging  by  his 
future  actions,  Horemheb  did  not  himself  feel 
any  real  repulsion  to  Amon,  though  the  religious 
rut  into  which  the  country  had  fallen  was  suffi- 
ciently objectionable  to  a  man  of  his  intellect  to 
cause  him  to  cast  in  his  lot  with  the  movement 
towards  emancipation.  In  later  life  he  would 
certainly  have  been  against  the  movement,  for 
his  mature  judgment  led  him  always  to  be  on 
the  side  of  ordered  habit  and  custom  as  being 
less  dangerous  to  the  national  welfare  than  a 
social  upheaval  or  change. 

Horemheb  seems  now  to  have  held  the  appoint- 
ment of  captain  or  commander  in  the  army,  and 
at  the  same  time,  as  a  "Royal  Scribe,"  he  cul- 
tivated the  art  of  letters,  and  perhaps  made 
himself  acquainted  with  those  legal  matters 
which  in  later  years  he  was  destined  to  reform. 

When  Amenhotep  III.  died,  the  new  king, 
Akhnaton,  carried  out  the  revolution  which  had 
been  pending  for  many  years,  and  absolutely 
banned  the  worship  of  Amon,  with  all  that  it 
involved.  He  built  himself  a  new  capital  at  El 
Amarna,  and  there  he  instituted  the  worship  of 
the  sun,  or  rather  of  the  heat  or  power  of  the 
sun,  under  the  name  of  Aton.  In  so  far  as  the 
revolution  constituted  a  breaking  away  from  tire- 
some convention,  the  young  Horemheb  seems  to 


212      Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


have  been  with  the  King.  No  one  of  intelligence 
could  deny  that  the  new  religion  and  new  phil- 
osophy which  was  preached  at  El  Amarna  was 
more  worthy  of  consideration  on  general  lines 
than  was  the  narrow  doctrine  of  the  Amon 
priesthood ;  and  all  thinkers  must  have  rejoiced 
at  the  freedom  from  bonds  which  had  become 
intolerable.  But  the  world  was  not  ready,  and 
indeed  is  still  not  ready,  for  the  schemes  which 
Akhnaton  propounded;  and  the  unpractical  model- 
kingdom  which  was  uncertainly  developing  under 
the  hills  of  El  Amarna  must  have  already  been 
seen  to  contain  the  elements  of  grave  danger  to 
the  State. 

Nevertheless  the  revolution  offered  many  at- 
tractions. The  frivolous  members  of  the  court, 
always  ready  for  change  and  excitement,  welcomed 
with  enthusiasm  the  doctrine  of  the  moral  and 
simple  life  which  the  King  and  his  advisers 
preached,  just  as  in  the  decadent  days  before  the 
French  Revolution  the  court,  bored  with  licenti- 
ousness, gaily  welcomed  the  morality-painting  of 
the  young  Greuze.  And  to  the  more  serious- 
minded,  such  as  Horemheb  seems  to  have  been, 
the  movement  must  have  appealed  in  its  imperial 
aspect.  The  new  god  Aton  was  largely  worshipped 
in  Syria,  and  it  seems  evident  that  Akhnaton 
had  hoped  to  bind  together  the  heterogeneous 
nations  of  the  empire  by  a  bond  of  common  wor- 
ship. The  Asiatics  were  not  disposed  to  worship 
Amon,  but  Aton  appealed  to  them  as  much  as 


The  Tomb  of  Horemheb.  213 


any  god,  and  Horemheb  must  have  seen  great 
possibilities  in  a  common  religion. 

It  is  thought  that  Horemheb  may  be  identified 
amongst  the  nobles  who  followed  Akhnaton  to 
El  Amarna,  and  though  this  is  not  certain,  there 
is  little  doubt  that  he  was  in  high  favour  with 
the  King  at  the  time.  To  one  whose  tendency 
is  neither  towards  frivolity  nor  towards  fanaticism, 
there  can  be  nothing  more  broadening  than  the 
influence  of  religious  changes.  More  than  one 
point  of  view  is  appreciated  :  a  man  learns  that 
there  are  other  ruts  than  that  in  which  he  runs,  and 
so  he  seeks  the  smooth  midway.  Thus  Horemheb, 
while  acting  loyally  towards  his  King,  and  while 
appreciating  the  value  of  the  new  movement,  did 
not  exclude  from  his  thoughts  those  teachings 
which  he  deemed  good  in  the  old  order  of  things. 
He  seems  to  have  seen  life  broadly ;  and  when 
the  new  religion  of  Akhnaton  became  narrowed 
and  fanatical,  as  it  did  towards  the  close  of  the 
tragic  chapter  of  that  king's  short  life,  Horemheb 
was  one  of  the  few  men  who  kept  an  open  mind. 

Like  many  other  nobles  of  the  period,  he  had 
constructed  for  himself  a  tomb  at  Sakkara,  in  the 
shadow  of  the  pyramids  of  the  old  kings  of  Egypt ; 
and  fragments  of  this  tomb,  which  of  course  was 
abandoned  when  he  became  Pharaoh,  are  now  to 
be  seen  in  various  museums.  In  one  of  the  scenes 
there  sculptured  Horemheb  is  shown  in  the 
presence  of  a  king  who  is  almost  certainly 
Akhnaton;  and  yet  in  a  speech  to  him  inscribed 


214      Researches  in  the  Treasury. 

above  the  reliefs,  Horemheb  makes  reference  to 
the  god  Amon  whose  very  name  was  anathema  to 
the  King.  The  royal  figure  is  drawn  according  to 
the  canons  of  art  prescribed  by  Akhnaton,  and 
upon  which,  as  a  protest  against  the  conventional 
art  of  the  old  order,  he  laid  the  greatest  stress 
in  his  revolution  ;  and  thus,  at  all  events, 
Horemheb  was  in  sympathy  with  this  aspect  of 
the  movement.  But  the  inscriptions  which  refer  to 
Amon,  and  yet  are  impregnated  with  the  Aton 
style  of  expression,  show  that  Horemheb  was 
not  to  be  held  down  to  any  one  mode  of  thought. 
Akhnaton  was,  perhaps,  already  dead  when  these 
inscriptions  were  added,  and  thus  Horemheb  may 
have  had  no  further  reason  to  hide  his  views ;  or 
it  may  be  that  they  constituted  a  protest  against 
that  narrowness  which  marred  the  last  years  of  a 
pious  king. 

Those  who  read  the  history  of  the  period  in  the 
last  chapter  will  remember  how  Akhnaton  came 
to  persecute  the  worshippers  of  Amon,  and  how 
he  erased  that  god's  name  wherever  it  was  written 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  Egypt. 
Evidently  with  this  action  Horemheb  did  not 
agree ;  nor  was  this  his  only  cause  for  complaint. 
As  an  officer,  and  now  a  highly  placed  general, 
of  the  army,  he  must  have  seen  with  feelings  of 
the  utmost  bitterness  the  neglected  condition  of 
the  Syrian  provinces.  Eevolt  after  revolt  occurred 
in  these  states ;  but  Akhnaton,  dreaming  and 
praying  in  the  sunshine  of  El  Amarna,  would 


The  Tomb  of  Horemheb.  215 


send  no  expedition  to  punish  the  rebels.  Good- 
fellowship  with  all  men  was  the  King's  watch- 
word, and  a  policy  more  or  less  democratic  did 
not  permit  him  to  make  war  on  his  fellow-creatures. 
Horemheb  could  smell  battle  in  the  distance,  but 
could  not  taste  of  it.  The  battalions  which  he 
had  trained  were  kept  useless  in  Egypt ;  and  even 
when,  during  the  last  years  of  Akhnaton's  reign, 
or  under  his  successor  Smenkhkara,  he  was  made 
commander  -  in  -  chief  of  all  the  forces,  there  was 
no  means  of  using  his  power  to  check  the  loss 
of  the  cities  of  Asia.  Horemheb  must  have 
watched  these  cities  fall  one  by  one  into  the 
hands  of  those  who  preached  the  doctrine  of  the 
sword,  and  there  can  be  little  wonder  that  he 
turned  in  disgust  from  the  doings  at  El  Amarna. 

During  the  times  which  followed,  when  Smenkh- 
kara held  the  throne  for  a  year  or  so,  and  after- 
wards, when  Tutankhamon  became  Pharaoh, 
Horemheb  seems  to  have  been  the  leader  of  the 
reactionary  movement.  He  did  not  concern  him- 
self so  much  with  the  religious  aspect  of  the 
questions :  there  was  as  much  to  be  said  on  behalf 
of  Aton  as  there  was  on  behalf  of  Amon.  But  it 
was  he  who  knocked  at  the  doors  of  the  heart 
of  Egypt,  and  urged  the  nation  to  awake  to  the 
danger  in  the  East.  An  expedition  against  the 
rebels  was  organised,  and  one  reads  that  Horemheb 
was  the  "  companion  of  his  Lord  upon  the  battle- 
field on  that  day  of  the  slaying  of  the  Asiatics." 
Akhnaton  had  been  opposed  to  warfare,  and  had 


216      Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


dreamed  that  dream  of  universal  peace  which  still 
is  a  far-off  light  to  mankind.  Horemheb  was  a 
practical  man  in  whom  such  a  dream  would  have 
been  but  weakness ;  and,  though  one  knows 
nothing  more  of  these  early  campaigns,  the  fact 
that  he  attempted  to  chastise  the  enemies  of  the 
empire  at  this  juncture  stands  to  his  credit  for 
all  time. 

Under  Tutankhamon  the  court  returned  to 
Thebes,  though  not  yet  exclusively  to  the  worship 
of  Amon  ;  and  the  political  phase  of  the  revolution 
came  to  an  end.  The  country  once  more  settled 
into  the  old  order  of  life,  and  Horemheb,  having 
experienced  the  full  dangers  of  philosophic  specula- 
tion, was  glad  enough  to  abandon  thought  for 
action.  He  was  now  the  most  powerful  man  in  the 
kingdom,  and  inscriptions  call  him  "  the  greatest 
of  the  great,  the  mightiest  of  the  mighty,  presider 
over  the  Two  Lands  of  Egypt,  general  of  generals," 
and  so  on.  The  King  "  appointed  him  to  be  Chief 
of  the  Land,  to  administer  the  laws  of  the  land 
as  Hereditary  Prince  of  all  this  land";  and  "all 
that  was  done  was  done  by  his  command."  From 
chaos  Horemheb  was  producing  order,  and  all 
men  turned  to  him  in  gratitude  as  he  reorgan- 
ised the  various  government  departments. 

The  offices  which  he  held,  such  as  Privy 
Councillor,  King's  Secretary,  Great  Lord  of  the 
People,  and  so  on,  are  very  numerous ;  and  in 
all  of  these  he  dealt  justly  though  sternly,  so 
that  "when  he  came  the  fear  of  him  was  great 


[Photo  by  Beato. 


Head  of  a  granite  statue  of  the  god  Khonsu,  probably  dating-  from  about 
the  period  of  Horemheb. — Cairo  Museum. 


Pl.  xxi. 


The  Tomb  of  Horemheb.  217 


in  the  sight  of  the  people,  prosperity  and  health 
were  craved  for  him,  and  he  was  greeted  as 
*  Father  of  the  Two  Lands  of  Egypt.'"  He  was 
indeed  the  saviour  and  father  of  his  country,  for 
he  had  found  her  corrupt  and  disordered,  and  he 
was  leading  her  back  to  greatness  and  dignity. 

At  this  time  he  was  probably  a  man  of  about 
forty  years  of  age.  In  appearance  he  seems  to 
have  been  noble  and  good  to  look  upon.  "  When 
he  was  born,"  says  the  inscription,  "  he  was  clothed 
with  strength  :  the  hue  of  a  god  was  upon  him  "  ; 
and  in  later  life,  "  the  form  of  a  god  was  in  his 
colour,"  whatever  that  may  mean.  He  was  a  man 
of  considerable  eloquence  and  great  learning.  "  He 
astonished  the  people  by  that  which  came  out  of 
his  mouth,"  we  are  told  ;  and  "  when  he  was  sum- 
moned before  the  King  the  palace  began  to  fear." 
One  may  picture  the  weak  Pharaoh  and  his  cor- 
rupt court,  as  they  watched  with  apprehension  the 
movements  of  this  stern  soldier,  of  whom  it  was 
said  that  his  every  thought  was  i '  in  the  footsteps 
of  the  Ibis," — the  ibis  being  the  god  of  wisdom. 

On  the  death  of  Tutankhamon,  the  question  of 
inviting  Horemheb  to  fill  the  vacant  throne  must 
have  been  seriously  considered ;  but  there  was 
another  candidate,  a  certain  Ay,  who  had  been 
one  of  the  most  important  nobles  in  the  group  of 
Akhnatons  favourites  at  El  Amarna,  and  who  had 
been  the  loudest  in  the  praises  of  Aton.  Religious 
feeling  was  at  the  time  running  high,  for  the  par- 
tizans  of  Anion  and  those  of  Aton  seem  to  have 


218      Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


been  waging  war  on  one  another ;  and  Ay  appears 
to  have  been  regarded  as  the  man  most  likely  to 
bridge  the  gulf  between  the  two  parties.  A  favour- 
ite of  Akhnaton,  and  once  a  devout  worshipper  of 
Aton,  he  was  not  averse  to  the  cults  of  other 
gods ;  and  by  conciliating  both  factions  he  man- 
aged to  obtain  the  throne  for  himself.  His  power, 
however,  did  not  last  for  long ;  and  as  the  priests 
of  Amon  regained  the  confidence  of  the  nation  at 
the  expense  of  those  of  Aton,  so  the  power  of  Ay 
declined.  His  past  connections  with  Akhnaton 
told  against  him,  and  after  a  year  or  so  he  dis- 
appeared, leaving  the  throne  vacant  once  more. 

There  was  now  no  question  as  to  who  should 
succeed.  A  princess  named  Mutnezem,  the  sister 
of  Akhnaton's  queen,  and  probably  an  old  friend  of 
Horemheb,  was  the  sole  heiress  to  the  throne,  the 
last  surviving  member  of  the  greatest  Egyptian 
dynasty.  All  men  turned  to  Horemheb  in  the 
hope  that  he  would  marry  this  lady,  and  thus 
reign  as  Pharaoh  over  them,  perhaps  leaving  a 
son  by  her  to  succeed  him  when  he  was  gathered 
to  his  fathers.  He  was  now  some  forty-five  years 
of  age,  full  of  energy  and  vigour,  and  passionately 
anxious  to  have  a  free  hand  in  the  carrying  out  of 
his  schemes  for  the  reorganisation  of  the  govern- 
ment. It  was  therefore  with  joy  that,  in  about 
the  year  1350  B.C.,  he  sailed  up  to  Thebes  in  order 
to  claim  the  crown. 

He  arrived  at  Luxor  at  a  time  when  the  annual 
festival  of  Amon  was  being  celebrated,  and  all  the 


The  Tomb  of  Horemheb.  219 


city  was  en  fete.  The  statue  of  the  god  had  been 
taken  from  its  shrine  at  Karnak,  and  had  been 
towed  up  the  river  to  Luxor  in  a  gorgeous  barge, 
attended  by  a  fleet  of  gaily -decorated  vessels. 
With  songs  and  dancing  it  had  been  conveyed 
into  the  Luxor  temple,  where  the  priests  had 
received  it  standing  amidst  piled- up  masses  of 
flowers,  fruit,  and  other  offerings.  It  seems  to 
have  been  at  this  moment  that  Horemheb  ap- 
peared, while  the  clouds  of  incense  streamed  up 
to  heaven,  and  the  morning  air  was  full  of  the 
sound  of  the  harps  and  the  lutes.  Surrounded  by 
a  crowd  of  his  admirers,  he  was  conveyed  into  the 
presence  of  the  divine  figure,  and  was  there  and 
then  hailed  as  Pharaoh. 

From  the  temple  he  was  carried  amidst  cheering 
throngs  to  the  palace  which  stood  near  by ;  and 
there  he  was  greeted  by  the  Princess  Mutnezem, 
who  fell  on  her  knees  before  him  and  embraced 
him.  That  very  day,  it  would  seem,  he  was 
married  to  her,  and  in  the  evening  the  royal 
heralds  published  the  style  and  titles  by  which 
he  would  be  known  in  the  future  :  "  Mighty  Bull, 
Ready  in  Plans ;  Favourite  of  the  Two  Goddesses, 
Great  in  Marvels ;  Golden  Hawk,  Satisfied  with 
Truth ;  Creator  of  the  Two  Lands,"  and  so  forth. 
Then,  crowned  with  the  royal  helmet,  he  was  led 
once  more  before  the  statue  of  Amon,  while  the 
priests  pronounced  the  blessing  of  the  gods  upon 
him.  Passing  down  to  the  quay  before  the  temple 
the  figure  of  the  god  was  placed  once  more  upon  the 


220      Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


state-barge,  and  was  floated  down  to  Karnak;  while 
Horemheb  was  led  through  the  rejoicing  crowds 
back  to  the  palace  to  begin  his  reign  as  Pharaoh. 

In  religious  matters  Horemheb  at  once  adopted 
a  strong  attitude  of  friendship  towards  the  Amon 
party  which  represented  the  old  order  of  things. 
There  is  evidence  to  show  that  Aton  was  in  no 
way  persecuted ;  yet  one  by  one  his  shrines  were 
abandoned,  and  the  neglected  temples  of  Amon 
and  the  elder  gods  once  more  rang  with  the  hymns 
of  praise.  Inscriptions  tell  us  that  the  King  "  re- 
stored the  temples  from  the  marshes  of  the  Delta 
to  Nubia.  He  fashioned  a  hundred  images  with  all 
their  bodies  correct,  and  with  all  splendid  costly 
stones.  He  established  for  them  daily  offerings 
every  day.  All  the  vessels  of  their  temples  were 
wrought  of  silver  and  gold.  He  equipped  them 
with  priests  and  with  ritual-priests,  and  with  the 
choicest  of  the  army.  He  transferred  to  them 
lands  and  cattle,  supplied  with  all  equipment." 
By  these  gifts  to  the  neglected  gods,  Horemheb 
was  striving  to  bring  Egypt  back  to  its  normal 
condition,  and  in  no  way  was  he  prejudiced  by 
any  particular  devotion  to  Amon. 

A  certain  Patonemheb,  who  had  been  one  of 
Akhnaton's  favourites  in  the  days  of  the  revolu- 
tion, was  appointed  High  Priest  of  Ra — the  older 
Egyptian  form  of  Aton  who  was  at  this  time 
identified  with  that  god — at  the  temple  of  Helio- 
polis  ;  and  this  can  only  be  regarded  as  an  act  of 
friendship  to  the  Aton-worshippers.     The  echoing 


The  Tomb  of  Horemheb.  221 


and  deserted  temples  of  Aton  in  Thebes,  and  El 
Amarna,  however,  were  now  pulled  down,  and  the 
blocks  were  used  for  the  enlarging  of  the  temple 
of  Amon, — a  fact  which  indicates  that  their  ori- 
ginal dedication  to  Aton  had  not  caused  them  to 
be  accursed. 

The  process  of  restoration  was  so  gradual  that 
it  could  not  have  much  disturbed  the  country. 
Horemheb's  hand  was  firm  but  soothing  in  these 
matters,  and  the  revolution  seems  to  have  been 
killed  as  much  by  kindness  as  by  force.  It  was 
probably  not  till  quite  the  end  of  his  reign  that  he 
showed  any  tendency  to  revile  the  memory  of 
Akhnaton  ;  and  the  high  feeling  which  at  length 
brought  the  revolutionary  king  the  name  of  "  that 
criminal  of  El  Amarna "  did  not  rise  till  half 
a  century  later.  The  difficulties  experienced  by 
Horemheb  in  steering  his  course  between  Amon 
and  Aton,  in  quietly  restoring  the  old  equilibrium 
without  in  any  way  persecuting  those  who  by 
religious  convictions  were  Aton-worshippers,  must 
have  been  immense ;  and  one  cannot  but  feel  that 
the  King  must  have  been  a  diplomatist  of  the 
highest  standing.  His  unaffected  simplicity  won 
all  hearts  to  him ;  his  toleration  and  broadness 
of  mind  brought  all  thoughtful  men  to  his  train  ; 
and  his  strong  will  led  them  and  guided  them 
from  chaos  to  order,  from  fantastic  Utopia  to  the 
solid  old  Egypt  of  the  past.  Horemheb  was  the 
preacher  of  Sanity,  the  apostle  of  the  Normal,  and 
Order  was  his  watchword. 


222       Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


The  inscriptions  tell  us  that  it  was  his  custom 
to  give  public  audiences  to  his  subjects,  and  there 
was  not  a  man  amongst  those  persons  whom  he 
interviewed  whose  name  he  did  not  know,  nor  one 
who  did  not  leave  his  presence  rejoicing.  Up  and 
down  the  Nile  he  sailed  a  hundred  times,  until  he 
was  able  truly  to  say,  "  I  have  improved  this  entire 
land ;  I  have  learned  its  whole  interior ;  I  have 
travelled  it  entirely  in  its  midst."  We  are  told 
that  "his  Majesty  took  counsel  with  his  heart  how 
he  might  expel  evil  and  suppress  lying.  The  plans 
of  his  Majesty  were  an  excellent  refuge,  repelling 
violence  and  delivering  the  Egyptians  from  the 
oppressions  which  were  around  them.  Behold,  his 
Majesty  spent  the  whole  time  seeking  the  welfare 
of  Egypt,  and  searching  out  instances  of  oppression 
in  the  land." 

It  is  interesting,  by  the  way,  to  note  that  in 
his  eighth  year  the  King  restored  the  tomb  of 
Thutmosis  IV.,  which  had  been  robbed  during 
the  revolution ;  and  the  inscription  which  the 
inspectors  left  behind  them  was  found  on  the  wall 
when  Mr  Theodore  Davis  discovered  the  tomb  a 
few  years  ago.  The  plundering  of  the  royal  tombs 
is  a  typical  instance  of  the  lawlessness  of  the  times. 
The  corruption,  too,  which  followed  on  the  dis- 
order was  appalling  ;  and  wherever  the  King  went 
he  was  confronted  by  deceit,  embezzlement,  bribery, 
extortion,  and  official  tyranny.  Every  Govern- 
ment officer  was  attempting  to  obtain  money  from 
his  subordinates  by  illegal  means ;  and  bakshish — 


The  Tomb  of  Horemheb.  223 


that  bogie  of  the  Nile  Valley  —  cast  its  shadow 
upon  all  men. 

Horemheb  stood  this  as  long  as  he  could ;  but 
at  last,  regarding  justice  as  more  necessary  than 
tact,  we  are  told  that  "  his  Majesty  seized  a 
writing  -  palette  and  scroll,  and  put  into  writing 
all  that  his  Majesty  the  King  had  said  to  him- 
self." It  is  not  possible  to  record  here  more  than 
a  few  of  the  good  laws  which  he  then  made,  but 
the  following  examples  will  serve  to  show  how 
near  to  his  heart  were  the  interests  of  his 
people. 

It  was  the  custom  for  the  tax  -  collectors  to 
place  that  portion  of  a  farmers  harvest,  which 
they  had  taken,  upon  the  farmer's  own  boat,  in 
order  to  convey  it  to  the  public  granary.  These 
boats  often  failed  to  be  returned  to  their  owners 
when  finished  with,  and  were  ultimately  sold  by 
the  officials  for  their  own  profit.  Horemheb, 
therefore,  made  the  following  law  : — 

"  If  the  poor  man  has  made  for  himself  a  boat  with  its 
sail,  and,  in  order  to  serve  the  State,  has  loaded  it  with 
the  Government  dues,  and  has  been  robbed  of  the  boat,  the 
poor  man  stands  bereft  of  his  property  and  stripped  of  his 
many  labours.  This  is  wrong,  and  the  Pharaoh  will  sup- 
press it  by  his  excellent  measures.  If  there  be  a  poor  man 
who  pays  the  taxes  to  the  two  deputies,  and  he  be  robbed 
of  his  property  and  his  boat,  my  majesty  commands:  that 
every  officer  who  collects  the  taxes  and  takes  the  boat  of 
any  citizen,  this  law  shall  be  executed  against  him,  and 
his  nose  shall  be  cut  off,  and  he  shall  be  sent  in  exile  to 
Tharu.    Furthermore,  conceruing  the  tax  of  timber,  my 


224       Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


majesty  commands  that  if  any  officer  find  a  poor  man 
without  a  boat,  then  he  shall  bring  him  a  craft  belonging 
to  another  man  in  which  to  carry  the  timber;  and  in 
return  for  this  let  the  former  man  do  the  loading  of  the 
timber  for  the  latter." 

The  tax  -  collectors  were  wont  to  commandeer 
the  services  of  all  the  slaves  in  the  town,  and  to 
detain  them  for  six  or  seven  days,  "  so  that  it 
was  an  excessive  detention  indeed. "  Often,  too, 
they  used  to  appropriate  a  portion  of  the  tax 
for  themselves.  The  new  law,  therefore,  was  as 
follows  : — 

"  If  there  be  any  place  where  the  officials  are  tax-collect- 
ing, and  any  one  shall  hear  the  report  saying  that  they  are 
tax  -  collecting  to  take  the  produce  for  themselves,  and 
another  shall  come  to  report  saying,  '  My  man  slave  or  my 
female  slave  has  been  taken  away  and  detained  many  days 
at  work  by  the  officials/  the  offender's  nose  shall  be  cut  off, 
and  he  shall  be  sent  to  Tharu." 

One  more  law  may  here  be  quoted.  The  police 
used  often  to  steal  the  hides  which  the  peasants 
had  collected  to  hand  over  to  the  Government 
as  their  tax.  Horemheb,  having  satisfied  him- 
self that  a  tale  of  this  kind  was  not  merely  an 
excuse  for  not  paying  the  tax,  made  this  law  : — 

"  As  for  any  policeman  concerning  whom  one  shall  hear 
it  said  that  he  goes  about  stealing  hides,  beginning  with 
this  day  the  law  shall  be  executed  against  him,  by  beating 
him  a  hundred  blows,  opening  five  wounds,  and  taking 
from  him  by  force  the  hides  which  he  took." 

To  carry  out  these  laws  he  appointed  two  chief 


The  Tomb  of  Horemheb.  225 


judges  of  very  high  standing,  who  are  said  to 
have  been  "  perfect  in  speech,  excellent  in  good 
qualities,  knowing  how  to  judge  the  heart."  Of 
these  men  the  King  writes:  "I  have  directed 
them  to  the  way  of  life,  I  have  led  them  to  the 
truth,  I  have  taught  them,  saying,  '  Do  not  receive 
the  reward  of  another.  How,  then,  shall  those 
like  you  judge  others,  while  there  is  one  among 
you  committing  a  crime  against  justice?'"  Under 
these  two  officials  Horemheb  appointed  many 
iudges,  who  went  on  circuit  around  the  country  ; 
and  the  King  took  the  wise  step  of  arranging, 
on  the  one  hand,  that  their  pay  should  be  so 
good  that  they  would  not  be  tempted  to  take 
bribes,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  penalty 
for  this  crime  should  be  most  severe. 

So  many  were  the  King's  reforms  that  one  is 
inclined  to  forget  that  he  was  primarily  a  soldier. 
He  appears  to  have  made  some  successful  expedi- 
tions against  the  Syrians,  but  the  fighting  was 
probably  near  his  own  frontiers,  for  the  empire 
lost  by  Akhnaton  was  not  recovered  for  many 
years,  and  Horemheb  seems  to  have  felt  that 
Egypt  needed  to  learn  to  rule  herself  before  she 
attempted  to  rule  other  nations.  An  expedition 
against  some  tribes  in  the  Sudan  was  successfully 
carried  through,  and  it  is  said  that  "  his  name 
was  mighty  in  the  land  of  Kush,  his  battle-cry 
was  in  their  dwelling-places."  Except  for  a  semi- 
military  expedition  which  was  dispatched  to  the 
land  of  Punt,  these  are  the  only  recorded  foreign 

p 


226      Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


activities  of  the  King;  but  that  he  had  spent 
much  time  in  the  organisation  and  improvement 
of  the  army  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  three 
years  after  his  death  the  Egyptian  soldiers  were 
swarming  over  the  Lebanon  and  hammering  at 
the  doors  of  the  cities  of  Jezreel. 

Had  he  lived  for  another  few  years  he  might 
have  been  famous  as  a  conqueror  as  well  as  an 
administrator,  though  old  age  might  retard  and 
tired  bones  refuse  their  office.  As  it  is,  however, 
his  name  is  written  sufficiently  large  in  the  book 
of  the  world's  great  men ;  and  when  he  died, 
about  B.C.  1315,  after  a  reign  of  some  thirty- 
five  years,  he  had  done  more  for  Egypt  than 
had  almost  any  other  Pharaoh.  He  found  the 
country  in  the  wildest  disorder,  and  he  left  it 
the  master  of  itself,  and  ready  to  become  once 
more  the  master  of  the  empire  which  Akhnaton's 
doctrine  of  Peace  and  Goodwill  had  lost.  Under 
his  direction  the  purged  worship  of  the  old  gods, 
which  for  him  meant  but  the  maintenance  of  some 
time-proved  customs,  had  gained  the  mastery  over 
the  chimerical  worship  of  Aton ;  without  force  or 
violence  he  had  substituted  the  practical  for  the 
visionary ;  and  to  Amon  and  Order  his  grateful 
subjects  were  able  to  cry,  "  The  sun  of  him  who 
knew  thee  not  has  set,  but  he  who  knows  thee 
shines ;  the  sanctuary  of  him  who  assailed  thee 
is  overwhelmed  in  darkness,  but  the  whole  earth 
is  now  in  light." 

The  tomb  of  this  great  Pharaoh  was  cut  in  the 


The  Tomb  of  Horemheb.  227 


rocks  on  the  west  side  of  the  Valley  of  the  Tombs 
of  the  Kings,  not  far  from  the  resting  -  place  of 
Amenhotep  II.  In  the  days  of  the  later  Ramesside 
kings  the  tomb-plunderers  entered  the  sepulchre, 
pulled  the  embalmed  body  of  the  king  to  pieces 
in  the  search  for  hidden  jewels,  scattered  the  bones 
of  the  three  members  of  his  family  who  were  buried 
with  him,  and  stole  almost  everything  of  value 
which  they  found.  There  must  have  been  other 
robberies  after  this,  and  finally  the  Government 
inspectors  of  about  B.C.  1100  entered  the  tomb, 
and,  seeing  its  condition,  closed  its  mouth  with 
a  compact  mass  of  stones.  The  torrents  of  rain 
which  sometimes  fall  in  winter  in  Egypt  percolated 
through  this  filling,  and  left  it  congealed  and  diffi- 
cult to  cut  through ;  and  on  the  top  of  this  hard 
mass  tons  of  rubbish  were  tossed  from  other  ex- 
cavations, thus  completely  hiding  the  entrance. 

In  this  condition  the  tomb  was  found  by  Mr 
Davis  in  February  1908.  Mr  Davis  had  been 
working  on  the  side  of  the  valley  opposite  to 
the  tomb  of  Rameses  III.,  where  the  accumula- 
tions of  debris  had  entirely  hidden  the  face  of 
the  rocks,  and,  as  this  was  a  central  and  likely 
spot  for  a  "  find,"  it  was  hoped  that  when  the 
skin  of  rubbish  had  been  cleared  away  the  entrance 
of  at  least  one  royal  tomb  would  be  exposed.  Of 
all  the  XVIIIth-Dynasty  kings,  the  burial-places 
of  only  Thutmosis  II.,  Tutankhamon,  and  Horem- 
heb remained  undiscovered,  and  the  hopes  of  the 
excavators  concentrated  on  these  three  Pharaohs. 


228      Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


After  a  few  weeks  of  digging,  the  mouth  of 
a  large  shaft  cut  into  the  limestone  was  cleared. 
This  proved  to  lead  into  a  small  chamber  half- 
filled  with  rubbish,  amongst  which  some  fine 
jewellery,  evidently  hidden  here,  was  found. 
This  is  now  well  published  by  Mr  Davis  in 
facsimile,  and  further  mention  of  it  here  is  un- 
necessary. Continuing  the  work,  it  was  not  long 
before  traces  of  another  tomb  became  apparent, 
and  in  a  few  days'  time  we  were  able  to  look 
down  from  the  surrounding  mounds  of  rubbish 
upon  the  commencement  of  a  rectangular  cutting 
in  the  rock.  The  size  and  style  of  the  entrance 
left  no  doubt  that  the  work  was  to  be  dated  to 
the,  end  of  the  XVIIIth  Dynasty,  and  the  ex- 
cavators were  confident  that  the  tomb  of  either 
Tutankhamon  or  Horemheb  lay  before  them, 
Steps  leading  down  to  the  entrance  were  pres- 
ently uncovered,  and  finally  the  doorway  itselr 
was  freed  from  debris. 

On  one  of  the  door-posts  an  inscription  was 
now  seen,  written  in  black  ink  by  one  of  the 
Government  inspectors  of  B.C.  1100.  This  stated 
that  in  the  fourth  year  of  an  unknown  king  the 
tomb  had  been  inspected,  and  had  been  found 
to  be  that  of  Horemheb. 

We  had  hoped  now  to  pass  into  the  tomb 
without  further  difficulty,  but  in  this  we  were 
disappointed,  for  the  first  corridor  was  quite 
choked  with  the  rubbish  placed  there  by  the 
inspectors.     This  corridor  led  down  at  a  steep 


The  Tomb  of  Horemheb.  229 


angle  through  the  limestone  hillside,  and,  like 
all  other  parts  of  the  tomb,  it  was  carefully- 
worked.  It  was  not  until  two  days  later  that 
enough  clearing  had  been  done  to  allow  us  to 
crawl  in  over  the  rubbish,  which  was  still  piled 
up  so  nearly  to  the  roof  that  there  was  only 
just  room  to  wriggle  downwards  over  it  with 
our  backs  pressing  against  the  stone  above.  At 
the  lower  end  of  the  corridor  there  was  a  flight 
of  steps  towards  which  the  rubbish  shelved,  and, 
sliding  down  the  slope,  we  were  here  able  to 
stand  once  more.  It  was  obvious  that  the  tomb 
did  not  stop  here,  and  work,  therefore,  had  to 
be  begun  on  the  rubbish  which  choked  the  stair- 
way in  order  to  expose  the  entrance  to  further 
passages.  A  doorway  soon  became  visible,  and 
at  last  this  was  sufficiently  cleared  to  permit  of 
our  crawling  into  the  next  corridor,  though  now 
we  were  even  more  closely  squeezed  between  the 
roof  and  the  debris  than  before. 

The  party  which  made  the  entrance  consisted  of 
Mr  Davis ;  his  assistant,  Mr  Ayrton  ;  Mr  Harold 
Jones;  Mr  Max  Dalison,  formerly  of  the  Egypt 
Exploration  Fund  ;  and  myself.  Wriggling  and 
crawling,  we  pushed  and  pulled  ourselves  down  the 
sloping  rubbish,  until,  with  a  rattling  avalanche 
of  small  stones,  we  arrived  at  the  bottom  of  the 
passage,  where  we  scrambled  to  our  feet  at  the 
brink  of  a  large  rectangular  well,  or  shaft.  Hold- 
ing the  lamps  aloft,  the  surrounding  walls  were 
seen  to  be  covered  with  wonderfully  preserved 


230       Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


paintings  executed  on  slightly  raised  plaster.  Here 
Horemheb  was  seen  standing  before  Isis,  Osiris, 
Horus,  and  other  gods ;  and  his  cartouches  stood 
out  boldly  from  amidst  the  elaborate  inscriptions. 
The  colours  were  extremely  rich,  and,  though  there 
was  so  much  to  be  seen  ahead,  we  stood  there  for 
some  minutes,  looking  at  them  with  a  feeling  much 
akin  to  awe. 

The  shaft  was  partly  filled  with  rubbish,  and 
not  being  very  deep,  we  were  able  to  climb  down 
it  by  means  of  a  ladder,  and  up  the  other  side  to 
an  entrance  which  formed  a  kind  of  window  in  the 
sheer  wall.  In  entering  a  large  tomb  for  the  first 
time,  there  are  one  or  two  scenes  which  fix  them- 
selves upon  the  memory  more  forcefully  than 
others,  and  one  feels  as  though  one  might  carry 
these  impressions  intact  to  the  grave.  In  this 
tomb  there  was  nothing  so  impressive  as  this  view 
across  the  well  and  through  the  entrance  in  the 
opposite  wall.  At  one's  feet  lay  the  dark  pit ; 
around  one  the  gaudy  paintings  gleamed ;  and 
through  the  window  -  like  aperture  before  one,  a 
dim  suggestion  could  be  obtained  of  a  white- 
pillared  hall.  The  intense  eagerness  to  know  what 
was  beyond,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  feeling 
that  it  was  almost  desecration  to  climb  into  those 
halls  which  had  stood  silent  for  thousands  of 
years,  cast  a  spell  over  the  scene  and  made  it 
unforgetable. 

This  aperture  had  once  been  blocked  up  with 
stones,  and  the  paintings  had  passed  across  it, 


The  Tomb  of  Horemheb.  231 


thus  hiding  it  from  view,  so  that  a  robber  entering 
the  tomb  might  think  that  it  ended  here.  But 
the  trick  was  an  old  one,  and  the  plunderers  had 
easily  detected  the  entrance,  had  pulled  away  the 
blocks,  and  had  climbed  through.  Following  in 
their  footsteps,  we  went  up  the  ladder  and  passed 
through  the  entrance  into  the  pillared  hall.  Parts 
of  the  roof  had  fallen  in,  and  other  parts  appeared 
to  be  likely  to  do  so  at  any  moment.  Clambering 
over  the  debris  we  descended  another  sloping  cor- 
ridor, which  was  entered  through  a  cutting  in  the 
floor  of  the  hall,  originally  blocked  up  and  hidden. 
This  brought  us  into  a  chamber  covered  with 
paintings,  like  those  around  the  well ;  and  again 
we  were  brought  to  a  standstill  by  the  amazingly 
fresh  colours  which  arrested  and  held  the  attention. 

We  then  passed  on  into  the  large  burial-hall,  the 
roof  of  which  was  supported  by  crumbling  pillars. 
Slabs  of  limestone  had  broken  off  here  and  there 
and  had  crashed  down  on  to  the  floor,  bringing 
with  them  portions  of  the  ceiling  painted  with  a 
design  of  yellow  stars  on  a  black  ground.  On  the 
walls  were  unfinished  paintings,  and  it  was  inter- 
esting to  notice  that  the  north,  south,  east,  and 
west  were  clearly  marked  upon  the  four  walls  for 
ceremonial  purposes. 

The  main  feature  towards  which  our  eyes  were 
turned  was  the  great  pink -granite  sarcophagus 
which  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  hall.  Its  sides 
were  covered  with  well-cut  inscriptions  of  a  religi- 
ous nature  ;  and  at  the  four  corners  there  were 


232       Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


figures  of  Isis  and  Nephthys,  in  relief,  with  their 
wings  spread  out  as  though  in  protection  around 
the  body.  Looking  into  the  sarcophagus,  the  lid 
having  been  thrown  off  by  the  plunderers,  we 
found  it  empty  except  for  a  skull  and  a  few  bones 
of  more  than  one  person.  The  sarcophagus  stood 
upon  the  limestone  floor,  and  under  it  small  holes 
had  been  cut,  in  each  of  which  a  little  wooden 
statue  of  a  god  had  been  placed.  Thus  the  king's 
body  was,  so  to  speak,  carried  on  the  heads  of  the 
gods,  and  held  aloft  by  their  arms.  This  is  a 
unique  arrangement,  and  has  never  before  been 
found  in  any  burial. 

In  all  directions  broken  figures  of  the  gods  were 
lying,  and  two  defaced  wooden  statues  of  the  king 
were  overthrown  beside  the  sarcophagus.  Beauti- 
ful pieces  of  furniture,  such  as  were  found  by  Mr 
Davis  in  the  tomb  of  Yuaa  and  Thuau,  were  not  to 
be  expected  in  the  sepulchre  of  a  Pharaoh ;  for 
whereas  those  two  persons  were  only  mortals  and 
required  mortal  comforts  in  the  Underworld,  the 
king  was  a  god  and  needed  only  the  comfort  of 
the  presence  of  other  gods.  Dead  flowers  were 
found  here  and  there  amidst  the  debris,  these 
being  the  remnant  of  the  masses  of  garlands 
which  were  always  heaped  around  and  over  the 
coffin. 

Peering  into  a  little  side  chamber  on  the  right, 
we  saw  two  skulls  and  some  broken  bones  lying  in 
the  corner.    These  appeared  to  be  female,  and  one 


The  Tomb  of  Horemheb.  233 


of  the  skulls  may  have  been  that  of  Mutnezem, 
the  queen.  In  another  small  chamber  on  the  left 
there  was  a  fine  painting  of  Osiris  on  the  back 
wall ;  and,  crouching  at  the  foot  of  this,  a  statuette 
of  a  god  with  upraised  hands  had  been  placed. 
As  we  turned  the  corner  and  came  upon  it  in  the 
full  glare  of  the  lamps,  one  felt  that  the  arms  were 
raised  in  horror  at  sight  of  us,  and  that  the  god 
was  gasping  with  surprise  and  indignation  at  our 
arrival.  In  the  floor  of  another  ante -chamber  a 
square  hole  was  cut,  leading  down  to  a  small  room. 
A  block  of  stone  had  neatly  fitted  over  the  open- 
ing, thus  hiding  it  from  view ;  but  the  robbers  had 
detected  the  crack,  and  had  found  the  hiding- 
place.  Here  there  were  a  skull  and  a  few  bones, 
again  of  more  than  one  person.  Altogether  there 
must  have  been  four  bodies  buried  in  the  tomb  ; 
and  it  seems  that  the  inspectors,  finding  them 
strewn  in  all  directions,  had  replaced  one  skull  in 
the  sarcophagus,  two  in  the  side  room,  and  one  in 
this  hiding-place,  dividing  up  the  bones  between 
these  three  places  as  they  thought  fit.  It  may  be 
that  the  king  himself  was  buried  in  the  under- 
ground chamber,  and  that  the  sarcophagus  was  a 
sort  of  blind ;  for  he  had  seen  the  destruction 
caused  by  robbers  in  the  tomb  of  Thutmosis  IV., 
which  he  had  restored,  and  he  may  have  made  this 
attempt  to  secure  the  safety  of  his  own  body. 
Whether  this  be  so  or  not,  however,  Fate  has  not 
permitted  the  body  of  the  great  king  to  escape  the 


234       Researches  in  the  Treasury. 

hands  of  the  destroyer,  and  it  will  now  never  be 
known  with  certainty  whether  one  of  these  four 
heads  wore  the  crown  of  the  Pharaohs. 

The  temperature  was  very  great  in  the  tomb, 
and  the  perspiration  streamed  down  our  faces  as 
we  stood  contemplating  the  devastation.  Now 
the  electric  lamps  would  flash  upon  the  gods  sup- 
porting the  ransacked  sarcophagus,  lighting  for  a 
moment  their  grotesque  forms ;  now  the  attention 
would  concentrate  upon  some  wooden  figure  of  a 
hippopotamus-god  or  cow-headed  deity  ;  and  now 
the  light  would  bring  into  prominence  the  great 
overthrown  statue  of  the  king.  There  is  some- 
thing peculiarly  sensational  in  the  examining  of  a 
tomb  which  has  not  been  entered  for  such  thou- 
sands of  years,  but  it  must  be  left  to  the  imagina- 
tive reader  to  infuse  a  touch  of  that  feeling  of  the 
dramatic  into  these  words.  It  would  be  hopeless 
to  attempt  to  put  into  writing  those  impressions 
which  go  to  make  the  entering  of  a  great  Egyptian 
sepulchre  so  thrilling  an  experience  :  one  cannot 
describe  the  silence,  the  echoing  steps,  the  dark 
shadows,  the  hot,  breathless  air ;  nor  tell  of  the 
sense  of  vast  Time  and  the  penetrating  of  it  which 
stirs  one  so  deeply. 

The  air  was  too  bad  to  permit  of  our  remaining 
long  so  deep  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth ;  and  we 
presently  made  our  way  through  halls  and  corri- 
dors back  to  the  upper  world,  scrambling  and 
crashing  over  the  debris,  and  squeezing  ourselves 
through  the  rabbit-hole  by  which  we  had  entered. 


The  Tomb  of  Horemheb,  235 


As  we  passed  out  of  this  hot.  dark  tomb  into  the 
brilliant  sunlight  and  the  bracing  north  wind,  the 
gloomy  wreck  of  the  place  was  brought  before  the 
imagination  with  renewed  force.  The  scattered 
bones,  the  broken  statues,  the  dead  flowers, 
grouped  themselves  in  the  mind  into  a  picture 
of  utter  decay.  In  some  of  the  tombs  which  have 
been  opened  the  freshness  of  the  objects  has 
caused  one  to  exclaim  at  the  inaction  of  the  }Tears ; 
but  here,  where  vivid  and  well-preserved  wall- 
paintings  looked  down  on  a  jumbled  collection  of 
smashed  fragments  of  wood  and  bones,  one  felt 
how  hardly  the  Powers  deal  with  the  dead.  How 
far  away  seemed  the  great  fight  between  Amon 
and  Aton ;  how  futile  the  task  which  Horemheb 
accomplished  so  gloriously !  It  was  all  over  and 
forgotten,  and  one  asked  oneself  what  it  mattered 
whether  the  way  was  difficult  or  the  battle  slow  to 
win.  In  the  fourth  year  of  the  reign  of  Horemheb 
a  certain  harper  named  Neferhotep  partly  com- 
posed a  song  which  was  peculiarly  appropriate  to 
the  tune  which  ran  in  one's  head  at  the  opening 
of  the  tomb  of  this  Pharaoh  whom  the  harper 
served — 

"(1.)  Behold  the  dwellings  of  the  dead.  Their  walls  fall 
down ;  their  place  is  no  more :  they  are  as  though  they  had 
never  existed.  (2.)  That  which  hath  come  into  being  must 
pass  away  again.  The  young  men  and  maidens  go  to  their 
places ;  the  sun  riseth  at  dawn,  and  setteth  again  in  the 
hills  of  the  west.  Men  beget  and  women  conceive.  The 
children,  too,  go  to  the  places  which  are  appointed  for  them. 


236      Researches  in  the  Treasury. 


0,  then,  be  happy !  Come,  scents  and  perfumes  are  set 
before  thee :  mahu-fLowers  and  lilies  for  the  arms  and  neck 
of  thy  beloved.  Come,  songs  and  music  are  before  thee. 
Set  behind  thee  all  cares ;  think  only  upon  gladness,  until 
that  day  cometh  whereon  thou  shalt  go  down  to  the  land 
which  loveth  silence." 

Horernheb  must  often  have  heard  this  song  sung 
in  his  palace  at  Thebes  by  its  composer ;  but  did 
he  think,  one  wonders,  that  it  would  be  the  walls 
of  his  own  tomb  which  would  fall  down,  and  his 
own  bones  which  would  he  almost  as  though  they 
had  never  existed  ? 


PART  IV. 

THE  PKESERVATION  OF  THE  TREASURY. 


"  Laugh  and  mock  if  you  will  at  the  worship  of  stone  idols,  but  mark  ye 
this,  ye  breakers  of  images,  that  in  one  regard  the  stone  idol  bears  awful 
semblance  of  Deity — the  unchangefulness  in  the  midst  of  change — the  same 
seeming  will,  and  intent  for  ever  and  ever  inexorable!  .  .  .  And  we,  we 
shall  die,  and  Islam  will  wither  away,  and  the  Englishman  straining  far  over 
to  hold  his  loved  India,  will  plant  a  firm  foot  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile  and 
sit  in  the  seats  of  the  Faithful,  and  still  that  sleepless  rock  will  lie  watching 
and  watching  the  works  of  the  new  busy  race,  with  those  same  sad  earnest 
eyes,  and  the  same  tranquil  mien  everlastingly." 

— Kixglake:  Eothen  (1844). 


CHAPTER  X. 


THEBAN  THIEVES. 


Thebes  was  the  ancient  capital  of  Egypt,  and  its 
ruins  are  the  most  extensive  in  the  Nile  Valley. 
On  the  east  bank  of  the  river,  at  the  modern 
towns  of  Luxor  and  Karnak,  there  are  the  remains 
of  mighty  temples ;  and  on  the  west  bank,  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  village  of  Gurneh,  tombs, 
mortuary  chapels,  and  temples,  literally  cover  the 
ground.  The  inhabitants  of  these  three  places 
have  for  generations  augmented  their  incomes 
by  a  traffic  in  antiquities,  and  the  peasants  of 
Gurneh  have,  more  especially,  become  famous  as 
the  most  hardy  pilferers  of  the  tombs  of  their 
ancestors  in  all  Egypt.  In  conducting  this 
lucrative  business  they  have  lately  had  the 
misfortune  to  be  recognised  as  thieves  and 
robbers  by  the  Government,  and  it  is  one  of 
my  duties  to  point  this  out  to  them.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  they  are  no  more  thieves  than 
you  or  L  It  is  as  natural  for  them  to  scratch 
in  the  sand  for  antiquities  as  it  is  for  us  to  pick 
flowers  by  the  roadside  :  antiquities,  like  flowers, 
are  the  product  of  the  soil,  and  it  is  largely  be- 


240    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


cause  the  one  is  more  rare  than  the  other  that  its 
promiscuous  appropriation  has  been  constituted 
an  offence.  The  native  who  is  sometimes  child 
enough  to  put  his  eyes  out  rather  than  serve 
in  the  army,  who  will  often  suffer  all  manner  of 
wrongs  rather  than  carry  his  case  to  the  local 
courts,  and  who  will  hide  his  money  under  his  bed 
rather  than  trust  it  to  the  safest  bank,  is  not 
likely  to  be  intelligent  enough  to  realise  that,  on 
scientific  grounds,  he  is  committing  a  crime  in 
digging  for  scarabs.  He  is  beginning  to  under- 
stand that  in  the  eyes  of  the  law  he  is  a  criminal, 
but  he  has  not  yet  learnt  so  to  regard  himself. 
I  here  name  him  thief,  for  officially  that  is  his 
designation  ;  but  there  is  no  sting  in  the  word, 
nor  is  any  insult  intended.  By  all  cultured  per- 
sons the  robbery  of  antiquities  must  be  regarded 
as  a  grave  offence,  and  one  which  has  to  be 
checked.  But  the  point  is  ethical ;  and  what 
has  the  Theban  to  do  with  ethics  ?  The  robbery 
of  antiquities  is  carried  out  in  many  different 
ways  and  from  many  different  motives.  Some- 
times it  is  romantic  treasure  hunting  that  the 
official  has  to  deal  with ;  sometimes  it  is  adven- 
turous robbery  with  violence ;  sometimes  it  is  the 
taking  advantage  of  chance  discoveries ;  some- 
times it  is  the  pilfering  of  objects  found  in  author- 
ised excavations ;  and  sometimes  it  is  the  stealing 
of  fragments  smashed  from  the  walls  of  the  ancient 
monuments.  All  these  forms  of  robbery,  except 
the  last,  may  call  for  the  sympathy  of  every 


A  modern  Theban  Fellah-woman  and  her  child. 


Pl.  xxiii. 


Theban  Thieves 


241 


reader  of  these  lines  who  happens  not  to  have 
cultivated  that  vaguely  defined  u  archaeological 
sense"  which  is,  practically,  the  product  of  this 
present  generation  alone ;  and  in  the  instances 
which  are  here  to  be  given  the  point  of  view  of 
the  "Theban  thief"  will  be  readily  appreciated. 

Treasure  hunting  is  a  relic  of  childhood  that 
remains,  like  all  other  forms  of  romance  and  ad- 
venture, a  permanently  youthful  feature  in  our 
worn  old  hearts.  It  has  been  drilled  into  us  by 
the  tales  of  our  boyhood,  and,  in  later  life,  it  has 
become  part  of  that  universal  desire  to  get  some- 
thing for  nothing  which  lies  behind  our  most 
honest  efforts  to  obtain  the  goods  of  this  world. 
Who  has  not  desired  the  hidden  wealth  of  the 
late -Captain  Kidd,  or  coveted  the  lost  treasure 
of  the  Incas  ?  I  recently  wrote  an  article  which 
was  entitled  "  Excavations  in  Egypt,"  but  the 
editor  of  the  magazine  in  which  it  appeared 
hastily  altered  these  words  to  "  Treasure  Hunting 
in  Egypt,"  and  thereby  commanded  the  attention 
of  twice  the  number  of  readers.  Can  we  wonder, 
then,  that  this  form  of  adventure  is  so  often  met 
with  in  Egypt,  the  land  of  hidden  treasure  ?  The 
Department  of  Antiquities  has  lately  published 
a  collection  of  mediaeval  traditions  with  regard 
to  this  subject,  which  is  known  as  the  Book  of 
the  Pearl.  In  it  one  is  told  the  exact  places 
where  excavations  should  be  made  to  lay  bare 
the  wealth  of  the  ancients.  "  Go  to  such  and 
such  a  spot,"  says  this  curious  book,  u  and  dig 

Q 


242    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


to  the  depth  of  so  many  cubits,  and  you  will  find 
a  trap-door  ;  descend  through  this  and  you  will 
find  a  chamber  wherein  are  forty  jars  filled  with 
gold.  Take  what  you  want,  and  give  thanks  to 
God."  Many  of  the  sites  referred  to  have  been 
literally  hacked  out  of  all  recognition  by  the  picks 
and  spades  of  thousands  of  gold  -  seekers ;  and  it 
may  be  that  sometimes  their  efforts  have  been 
rewarded,  since  a  certain  amount  of  genuine  in- 
formation is  embodied  in  the  traditions.  Sir 
Gaston  Maspero,  the  Director  -  General  of  the 
Department  of  Antiquities,  tells  a  story  of  how 
a  native  came  to  him  asking  permission  to  ex- 
cavate at  a  certain  spot  where  he  believed  treasure 
to  be  hidden.  Sir  Gaston  accompanied  him  to  the 
place,  and  a  tunnel  was  bored  into  what  appeared 
to  be  virgin  sand  and  rock.  At  the  end  of  the 
first  day's  work  the  futility  of  his  labours  was 
pointed  out  to  the  man,  but  he  was  not  to  be 
daunted.  For  two  more  days  he  stood  watching 
the  work  from  morn  to  nightfall  with  hope  burn- 
ing in  his  eyes,  and  on  the  following  morning  his 
reward  came.  Suddenly  the  ground  gave  way 
before  the  picks  of  the  workmen,  and  a  hole 
was  seen  leading  into  a  forgotten  cave.  In  this 
cave  the  implements  of  some  mediaeval  coiners 
were  discovered,  and  an  amount  of  metal,  false 
and  true,  was  found  which  had  been  used  by  them 
in  the  process  of  their  business. 

A  short  time  ago  a  man  applied  for  permission 
to  perform  a  similar  kind  of  excavation  at  a  place 


Theban  Thieves. 


243 


called  Nag  Hamadi.  and  in  my  absence  permission 
was  given  him.  On  my  return  the  following 
report  was  submitted :  ".  .  .  Having  reached 
the  spot  indicated  the  man  started  to  blow  the 
stones  by  means  of  the  Denamits.  Also  he 
slaught  a  lamb,  thinking  that  there  is  a  treasure, 
and  that  when  the  lamb  being  slaught  he  will 
discover  it  at  once."  In  plainer  English,  the  man 
had  blown  up  the  rocks  with  dynamite,  and  had 
attempted  to  further  his  efforts  by  sacrificing  a 
lamb  to  the  djin  who  guarded  the  treasure.  The 
djin,  however,  was  not  thus  to  be  propitiated,  and 
the  gold  of  the  Pharaohs  was  never  found.  More 
recently  the  watchmen  of  the  famous  temple  of 
Der  el  Bahri  found  themselves  in  trouble  owing 
to  the  discovery  that  part  of  the  ancient  pave- 
ment showed  signs  of  having  been  raised,  stone 
by  stone,  in  order  that  the  ground  below  might  be 
searched  for  the  treasure  which  a  tradition,  such 
as  those  in  the  Book  of  the  Pearl,  had  reported  as 
lying  hid  there. 

Almost  as  romantic  as  treasure  hunting  is 
robbery  with  violence.  We  all  remember  our 
boyhood's  fascination  for  piracy,  smuggling,  and 
the  profession  of  Dick  Turpin ;  and  to  the  Theban 
peasant,  who  is  essentially  youthful  in  his  ideas, 
this  form  of  fortune  hunting  has  irresistible  at- 
tractions. When  a  new  tomb  is  discovered  by 
authorised  archaeologists,  especially  when  it  is 
situated  in  some  remote  spot  such  as  the  Valley 
of  the  Kings,  there  is  always  some  fear  of  an 


244    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


armed  raid  ;  and  police  guard  the  spot  night 
and  day  until  the  antiquities  have  been  removed 
to  Cairo.  The  workmen  who  have  been  employed 
in  the  excavation  return  to  their  homes  with 
wonderful  tales  of  the  wealth  which  the  tomb 
contains,  and  in  the  evening  the  discovery  is 
discussed  by  the  women  at  the  well  where  the 
water  is  drawn  for  the  village,  with  the  result 
that  it  very  soon  assumes  prodigious  proportions, 
inflaming  the  minds  of  all  men  with  the  greed 
of  gold.  Visitors  often  ask  why  it  is  that  the 
mummies  of  the  Pharaohs  are  not  left  to  lie  each 
in  its  own  tomb ;  and  it  is  argued  that  they 
look  neither  congruous  nor  dignified  in  the  glass 
cases  of  the  museum.  The  answer  is  obvious  to  all 
who  know  the  country  :  put  them  back  in  their 
tombs,  and,  without  continuous  police  protection, 
they  will  be  broken  into  fragments  by  robbers,  bolts 
and  bars  notwithstanding.  The  experiment  of  leav- 
ing the  mummy  and  some  of  the  antiquities  in 
situ  has  only  once  been  tried,  and  it  has  not  been 
a  complete  success.  It  was  done  in  the  case  of 
the  tomb  of  Amenhotep  II.  at  Thebes,  the  mummy 
being  laid  in  its  original  sarcophagus  ;  and  a  model 
boat,  used  in  one  of  the  funeral  ceremonies,  was 
also  left  in  the  tomb.  One  night  the  six  watch- 
men who  were  in  charge  of  the  royal  tombs  stated 
that  they  had  been  attacked  by  an  armed  force ; 
and  the  tomb  in  question  was  seen  to  have  been 
entered,  the  iron  doors  having  been  forced.  The 
mummy  of  the  Pharaoh  was  found  lying  upon 


Theban  Thieves. 


245 


the  floor  of  the  burial-hall,  its  chest  smashed  in ; 
and  the  boat  had  disappeared,  nor  has  it  since 
been  recovered.  The  watchmen  showed  signs 
of  having  put  up  something  of  a  fight,  their 
clothes  being  riddled  with  bullet-holes ;  but  here 
and  there  the  cloth  looked  much  as  though  it 
had  been  singed,  which  suggested,  as  did  other 
evidence,  that  they  themselves  had  fired  the  guns 
and  had  acted  the  struggle.  The  truth  of  the 
matter  will  never  be  known,  but  its  lesson  is 
obvious.  The  mummy  was  put  back  into  its 
sarcophagus,  and  there  it  has  remained  secure  ever 
since ;  but  one  never  knows  how  soon  it  will  be 
dragged  forth  once  more  to  be  searched  for  the 
gold  with  which  every  native  thinks  it  is 
stuffed. 

Some  years  ago  an  armed  gang  walked  off 
with  a  complete  series  of  mortuary  reliefs  belong- 
ing to  a  tomb  at  Sakkarah.  They  came  by  night, 
overpowered  the  watchmen,  loaded  the  blocks 
of  stone  on  to  camels,  and  disappeared  into  the 
darkness.  Sometimes  it  is  an  entire  cemetery 
that  is  attacked ;  and,  if  it  happens  to  be  situated 
some  miles  from  the  nearest  police-station,  a  good 
deal  of  work  can  be  done  before  the  authorities 
get  wind  of  the  affair.  Last  winter  six  hundred 
men  set  to  work  upon  a  patch  of  desert  ground 
where  a  tomb  had  been  accidently  found,  and, 
ere  I  received  the  news,  they  had  robbed  a  score 
of  little  graves,  many  of  which  must  have  con- 
tained  objects   purchasable    by  the   dealers  in 


246    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


antiquities  for  quite  large  sums  of  money.  At 
Abydos  a  tomb  which  we  had  just  discovered 
was  raided  by  the  villagers,  and  we  only  regained 
possession  of  it  after  a  rapid  exchange  of  shots, 
one  of  which  came  near  end  ins:  a  career  whose 
continuance  had  been,  since  birth,  a  matter  of 
great  importance  to  myself.  But  how  amusing 
the  adventure  must  have  been  for  the  raiders  ! 

The  appropriation  of  treasure-trove  come  upon  by 
chance,  or  the  digging  out  of  graves  accidentally 
discovered,  is  a  very  natural  form  of  robbery  for 
the  natives  to  indulge  in,  and  one  which  commends 
itself  to  the  sympathies  of  all  those  not  actively 
concerned  in  its  suppression.  There  are  very  few 
persons  even  in  western  countries  who  would 
be  willing  to  hand  over  to  the  Government  a 
hoard  of  gold  discovered  in  their  own  back 
garden.  In  Egypt  the  law  is  that  the  treasure- 
trove  thus  discovered  belongs  to  the  owner  of 
the  property ;  and  thus  there  is  always  a  certain 
amount  of  excavation  going  on  behind  the  walls 
of  the  houses.  It  is  also  the  law  that  the  peasants 
may  carry  away  the  accumulated  rubbish  on  the 
upper  layers  of  ancient  town  sites,  in  order  to 
use  it  as  a  fertiliser  for  their  crops,  since  it 
contains  valuable  phosphates.  This  work  is 
supervised  by  watchmen,  but  this  does  not  pre- 
vent the  stealing  of  almost  all  the  antiquities 
which  are  found.  As  illegal  excavators  these 
sebakhin,  or  manure  -  diggers,  are  the  worst 
offenders,  for  they  search  for  the  phosphates  in 


Theban  Thieves. 


247 


all  manner  of  places,  and  are  constantly  coming 
upon  tombs  or  ruins  which  they  promptly  clear 
of  their  contents.  One  sees  them  driving  their 
donkeys  along  the  roads,  each  laden  with  a  sack 
of  manure,  and  it  is  certain  that  some  of  these 
sacks  contain  antiquities.  In  Thebes  many  of 
the  natives  live  inside  the  tombs  of  the  ancient 
nobles,  these  generally  consisting  of  two  or  three 
rock-hewn  halls  from  which  a  tunnel  leads  down 
to  the  burial  -  chamber.  Generally  this  tunnel 
is  choked  with  debris,  and  the  owner  of  the 
house  will  perhaps  come  upon  it  by  chance,  and 
will  dig  it  out,  in  the  vain  hope  that  earlier 
plunderers  have  left  some  of  the  antiquities  un- 
disturbed. It  recently  happened  that  an  entire 
family  was  asphyxiated  while  attempting  to 
penetrate  into  a  newly  discovered  tunnel,  each 
member  entering  to  ascertain  the  fate  of  the 
previous  explorer,  and  each  being  overcome  by 
the  gases.  On  one  occasion  I  was  asked  by  a 
native  to  accompany  him  down  a  tunnel,  the 
entrance  of  which  was  in  his  stable,  in  order  to 
view  a  sarcophagus  which  lay  at  the  bottom. 
We  each  took  a  candle,  and,  crouching  down  to 
avoid  the  low  roof,  we  descended  the  narrow, 
winding  passage,  the  loose  stones  sliding  beneath 
our  feet.  The  air  was  very  foul ;  and  below  us 
there  was  the  thunderous  roar  of  thousands  of 
wings  beating  through  the  echoing  passage  — 
the  wings  of  evil -smelling  bats.  Presently  we 
reached  this  uncomfortable  zone^    So  thickly  did 


248    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


the  bats  hang  from  the  ceiling  that  the  rock 
itself  seemed  to  be  black ;  but  as  we  advanced, 
and  the  creatures  took  to  their  wings,  this  black 
covering  appeared  to  peel  off  the  rock.  During 
the  entire  descent  this  curious  spectacle  of  regu- 
larly receding  blackness  and  advancing  grey  was 
to  be  seen  a  yard  or  so  in  front  of  us.  The  roar 
of  wings  was  now  deafening,  for  the  space  into 
which  we  were  driving  the  bats  was  very  confined. 
My  guide  shouted  to  me  that  we  must  let  them 
pass  out  of  the  tomb  over  our  heads.  We  there- 
fore crouched  down,  and  a  few  stones  were  flung 
into  the  darkness  aheade  Then,  with  a  roar  and 
a  rush  of  air,  they  came;  bumping  into  us,  en- 
tangling themselves  in  our  clothes,  slapping  our 
faces  and  hands  with  their  unwholesome  wings, 
and  clinging  to  our  fingers.  At  last  the  thunder 
died  away  in  the  passage  behind  us,  and  we  were 
able  to  advance  more  easily,  though  the  ground 
was  alive  with  the  bats  maimed  in  the  frantic 
flight  which  had  taken  place,  floundering  out  of 
our  way  and  squeaking  shrilly  „  The  sarcophagus 
proved  to  be  of  no  interest,  so  the  encounter  with 
the  bats  was  to  no  purpose. 

The  pilfering  of  antiquities  found  during  the 
course  of  authorised  excavations  is  one  of  the 
most  common  forms  of  robbery.  The  overseer 
cannot  always  watch  the  workmen  sufficiently 
closely  to  prevent  them  pocketing  the  small  ob- 
jects which  they  find,  and  it  is  an  easy  matter  to 
\  carry  off  the  stolen  goods,  even  though  the  men 


Theban  Thieves.  249 


are  searched  at  the  end  of  the  day.  A  little  girl 
minding  her  father's  sheep  and  goats  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  excavations,  and  apparently  occu- 
pying her  hands  with  the  spinning  of  flax,  is  perhaps 
the  receiver  of  the  objects.  Thus  it  is  more  profit- 
able to  dig  for  antiquities  even  in  authorised 
excavations  than  to  work  the  water-hoist,  which 
is  one  of  the  usual  occupations  of  the  peasant. 
Pulling  the  hoisting-pole  down,  and  swinging  it 
up  again  with  its  load  of  water  many  thousands 
of  times  in  the  day,  is  monotonous  work  ;  whereas 
digging  in  the  ground,  with  the  eyes  keenly 
watching  for  the  appearance  of  antiquities,  is 
always  interesting  and  exciting.  And  why 
should  the  digger  refrain  from  appropriating  the 
objects  which  his  pick  reveals  ?  If  he  does  not 
make  use  of  his  opportunities  and  carry  off  the 
antiquities,  the  western  director  of  the  works  will 
take  them  to  his  own  country  and  sell  them  for 
his  own  profit.  All  natives  believe  that  the 
archaeologists  work  for  the  purpose  of  making 
money.  Speaking  of  Professor  Flinders  Petrie, 
a  peasant  said  to  me  the  other  day  :  "  He  has 
worked  five-and-twenty  years  now ;  he  must  be 
very  rich."  He  would  never  believe  that  the 
antiquities  were  given  to  museums  without  any 
payment  being  made  to  the  finder. 

The  stealing  of  fragments  broken  out  of  the 
walls  of  "  show "  monuments  is  almost  the  only 
form  of  robbery  which  will  receive  general  con- 
demnation.   That  this  vandalism  is  also  distaste- 


250    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 

ful  to  the  natives  themselves  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  several  better-class  Egyptians  living  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Thebes  subscribed,  at  my  in- 
vitation, the  sum  of  £50  for  the  protection  of 
certain  beautiful  tombs.  When  they  were  shown 
the  works  undertaken  with  their  money,  they 
expressed  themselves  as  being  "  pleased  with  the 
delicate  inscriptions  in  the  tombs,  but  very  awfully 
angry  at  the  damage  which  the  devils  of  ignorant 
people  had  made."  A  native  of  moderate  intelli- 
gence can  quite  appreciate  the  argument  that 
whereas  the  continuous  warfare  between  the 
agents  of  the  Department  of  Antiquities  and 
the  illegal  excavators  of  small  graves  is  what 
might  be  called  an  honourable  game,  the  smash- 
ing of  public  monuments  cannot  be  called  fair- 
play  from  whatever  point  of  view  the  matter  is 
approached.  Often  revenge  or  spite  is  the  cause 
of  this  damage.  It  is  sometimes  necessary  to  act 
with  severity  to  the  peasants  who  infringe  the 
rules  of  the  Department,  but  a  serious  danger 
lies  in  such  action,  for  it  is  the  nature  of  the 
Thebans  to  revenge  themselves  not  on  the  offi- 
cial directly  but  on  the  monuments  which  he  is 
known  to  love.  Two  years  ago  a  native  illegally 
built  himself  a  house  on  Government  ground,  and 
I  was  obliged  to  go  through  the  formality  of 
pulling  it  down,  which  I  did  by  obliging  him  to 
remove  a  few  layers  of  brickwork  around  the 
walls.  A  short  time  afterwards  a  famous  tomb 
was  broken  into  and  a  part  of  the  paintings 


A.  modern  Gournawi  beggar. 


Theban  Thieves. 


251 


destroyed ;  and  there  was  enough  evidence  to 
show  that  the  owner  of  this  house  was  the  cul- 
prit, though  unfortunately  he  could  not  be  con- 
victed. One  man  actually  had  the  audacity  to 
warn  me  that  any  severity  on  my  part  would  be 
met  by  destruction  of  monuments.  Under  these 
circumstances  an  official  finds  himself  in  a  dilemma. 
If  he  maintains  the  dignity  and  prestige  of  his 
Department  by  punishing  any  offences  against  it, 
he  endangers  the  very  objects  for  the  care  of 
which  he  is  responsible ;  and  it  is  hard  to  say 
whether  under  a  lax  or  a  severe  administration 
the  more  damage  would  be  done. 

The  produce  of  these  various  forms  of  robbery 
is  easily  disposed  of.  When  once  the  antiquities 
have  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  dealers  there 
is  little  chance  of  further  trouble.  The  dealer 
can  always  say  that  he  came  into  possession  of 
an  object  years  ago,  before  the  antiquity  laws 
were  made,  and  it  is  almost  impossible  to  prove 
that  he  did  not.  You  may  have  the  body  of  a 
statue  and  he  the  head  :  he  can  always  damage 
the  line  of  the  breakage,  and  say  that  the  head 
does  not  belong  to  that  statue,  or,  if  the  connec- 
tion is  too  obvious,  he  can  say  that  he  found  the 
head  while  excavating  twenty  years  ago  on  the 
site  where  now  you  have  found  the  body.  Nor  is 
it  desirable  to  bring  an  action  against  the  man  in 
a  case  of  this  kind,  for  it  might  go  against  the 
official.  Dealing  in  antiquities  is  regarded  as  a 
perfectly  honourable  business.    The  official,  crawl- 


252    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


ing  about  the  desert  on  his  stomach  in  the  bitter 
cold  of  a  winter's  night  in  order  to  hold  up  a 
convoy  of  stolen  antiquities,  may  use  hard  lan- 
guage in  regard  to  the  trade,  but  he  cannot  say 
that  it  is  pernicious  as  long  as  it  is  confined  to 
minor  objects.  How  many  objects  of  value  to 
science  would  be  destroyed  by  their  finders  if 
there  was  no  market  to  take  them  to !  One  of 
the  Theban  dealers  leads  so  holy  a  life  that  he 
will  assuredly  be  regarded  as  a  saint  by  future 
generations. 

The  sale  of  small  antiquities  to  tourists  on  the 
public  roads  is  prohibited,  except  at  certain  places, 
but  of  course  it  can  be  done  with  impunity  by  the 
exercise  of  a  little  care.  Men  and  boys  and  even 
little  girls  as  they  pass  will  stare  at  you  with 
studying  eyes,  and  if  you  seem  to  be  a  likely  pur- 
chaser, they  will  draw  from  the  folds  of  their 
garments  some  little  object  which  they  will  offer 
for  sale.  Along  the  road  in  the  glory  of  the 
setting  sun  there  will  come  as  fine  a  young  man 
as  you  will  see  on  a  day's  march.  Surely  he  is 
bent  on  some  noble  mission :  what  lofty  thoughts 
are  occupying  his  mind,  you  wonder.  But  as  you 
pass,  out  comes  the  scarab  from  his  pocket,  and 
he  shouts,  "  Wanty  scarab,  mister? — two  shil- 
ling'' while  you  ride  on  your  way  a  greater  cynic 
than  before. 

Some  years  ago  a  large  inscribed  stone  was 
stolen  from  a  certain  temple,  and  was  promptly 
sold  to  a  man  who  sometimes  traded  in  such  ob- 


Theban  Thieves. 


253 


jects.  This  man  carried  the  stone,  hidden  in  a 
sack  of  grain,  to  the  house  of  a  friend,  and  having 
deposited  it  in  a  place  of  hiding,  he  tramped  home, 
with  his  stick  across  his  shoulders,  in  an  attitude 
of  deep  unconcern.  An  enemy  of  his,  however, 
had  watched  him,  and  promptly  gave  information. 
Acting  on  this  the  police  set  out  to  search  the 
house.  When  we  reached  the  entrance  we  were 
met  by  the  owner,  and  a  warrant  was  shown  to 
him.  A  heated  argument  followed,  at  the  end  of 
which  the  infuriated  man  waved  us  in  with  a 
magnificent  and  most  dramatic  gesture.  There 
were  some  twenty  rooms  in  the  house,  and  the 
stifling  heat  of  a  July  noon  made  the  task  none 
too  enjoyable.  The  police  inspector  was  ex- 
tremely thorough  in  his  work,  and  an  hour  had 
passed  before  three  rooms  had  been  searched. 
He  looked  into  the  cupboards,  went  down  on 
his  knees  to  peer  into  the  ovens,  stood  on  tiptoe 
to  search  the  fragile  wooden  shelves  (it  was  a 
heavy  stone  which  we  were  looking  for),  hunted 
under  the  mats,  and  even  peeped  into  a  little 
tobacco-tin.  In  one  of  the  rooms  there  were  three 
or  four  beds  arranged  along  the  middle  of  the 
floor.  The  inspector  pulled  off  the  mattresses,  and 
out  from  under  each  there  leapt  a  dozen  rats,  which, 
if  I  may  be  believed,  made  for  the  walls  and  ran 
straight  up  them,  disappearing  in  the  rafter-holes 
at  the  top.  The  sight  of  countless  rats  hurrying 
up  perpendicular  walls  may  be  familiar  to  some 
people,  but  I  venture  to  call  it  an  amazing  spec- 


254    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


tacle,  worthy  of  record.  Then  came  the  opening 
of  one  or  two  travelling-trunks.  The  inspector 
ran  his  hand  through  the  clothes  which  lay  therein, 
and  out  jumped  a  few  more  rats,  which  likewise 
went  up  the  walls.  The  searching  of  the  re- 
maining rooms  carried  us  well  through  the  after- 
noon ;  and  at  last,  hot  and  weary,  we  decided 
to  abandon  the  hunt.  Two  nights  later  a  man 
was  seen  walking  away  from  the  house  with  a 
heavy  sack  on  his  back ;  and  the  stone  is  now, 
no  doubt,  in  the  Western  hemisphere. 

The  attempt  to  regain  a  lost  antiquity  is  seldom 
crowned  with  success.  It  is  so  extremely  difficult 
to  obtain  reliable  information ;  and  as  soon  as 
a  man  is  suspected  his  enemies  will  rush  in 
with  accusations.  Thirty -eight  separate  accusa- 
tions were  sent  in  against  a  certain  head-watch- 
man during  the  first  days  after  the  fact  had 
leaked  out  that  he  was  under  suspicion.  Not 
one  of  them  could  be  shown  to  be  true.  Some- 
times one  man  will  bring  a  charge  against  another 
for  the  betterment  of  his  own  interests.  Here 
is  a  letter  from  a  watchman  who  had  resigned,  but 
wished  to  rejoin.  "  To  his  Exec.  Chief  Dircoter 
of  the  tembels.  I  have  honner  to  inform  that  I 
am  your  servant  X,  watchman  on  the  tembels 
before  this  time.  Sir  from  one  year  ago  I  work  in 
the  Santruple  (?)  as  a  watchman  about  four  years 
ago.  And  I  not  make  anything  wrong  and  your 
Exec,  know  me.  Now  I  want  to  work  in  my  place 
in  the  tembel,  because  the  man  which  in  it  he  not 


Theban  Thieves. 


255 


attintive  to  His,  but  alway  he  in  the  coffee  .  .  . 
He  also  steal  the  scribed  stones.  Please  give  your 
order  to  point  me  again.  Your  servant,  X."  "  The 
coffee"  is,  of  course,  the  cafe  which  adjoins  the 
temple. 

A  short  time  ago  a  young  man  came  to  me  with 
an  accusation  against  his  own  father,  who,  he  said, 
had  stolen  a  statuette.  The  tale  which  he  told 
was  circumstantial,  but  it  was  hotly  denied  by  his 
infuriated  parent.  He  looked,  however,  a  trifle 
more  honest  than  his  father,  and  when  a  younger 
brother  was  brought  in  as  witness,  one  felt  that 
the  guilt  of  the  old  man  vrould  be  the  probable 
rinding.  The  boy  stared  steadfastly  at  the  ground 
for  some  moments,  however,  and  then  launched  out 
into  an  elaborate  explanation  of  the  whole  affair. 
He  said  that  he  asked  his  father  to  lend  him 
four  pounds,  but  the  father  had  refused.  The  son 
insisted  that  that  sum  was  due  to  him  as  his  share 
in  some  transaction,  and  pointed  out  that  though 
he  only  asked  for  it  as  a  loan,  he  had  in  reality 
a  claim  to  it.  The  old  man  refused  to  hand  it 
over,  and  the  son,  therefore,  waited  his  oppor- 
tunity and  stole  it  from  his  house,  carrying  it 
off  triumphantly  to  his  own  establishment.  Here 
he  gave  it  into  the  charge  of  his  young  wife, 
and  went  about  his  business.  The  father,  how- 
ever, guessed  where  the  money  had  gone ;  and 
while  his  son  was  out,  invaded  his  house,  beat 
his  daughter-in-law  on  the  soles  of  her  feet 
until  she  confessed  where  the  money  was  hidden, 


256    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


and  then,  having  obtained  it,  returned  to  his  home. 
When  the  son  came  back  to  his  house  he  learnt 
what  had  happened,  and,  out  of  spite,  at  once  in- 
vented the  accusation  which  he  had  brought  to  me. 
This  story  appeared  to  be  true  in  so  far  as  the 
quarrel  over  the  money  was  concerned,  but  that 
the  accusation  was  invented  proved  to  be  untrue. 

Sometimes  the  peasants  have  such  honest  faces 
that  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  they  are  guilty 
of  d  ceit.  A  lady  came  to  the  camp  of  a  certain 
party  of  excavators  at  Thebes,  holding  in  her  hand 
a  scarab.  "Do  tell  me,"  she  said  to  one  of  the 
archaeologists,  "  whether  this  scarab  is  genuine.  I 
am  sure  it  must  be,  for  I  bought  it  from  a  boy 
who  assured  me  that  he  had  stolen  it  from  your 
excavations,  and  he  looked  such  an  honest  and 
truthful  little  fellow." 

In  order  to  check  pilfering  in  a  certain  exca- 
vation in  which  I  was  assisting  we  made  a  rule 
that  the  selected  workmen  should  not  be  allowed 
to  put  unselected  substitutes  in  their  place.  One 
day  I  came  upon  a  man  whose  appearance  did  not 
seem  familiar,  although  his  back  was  turned  to  me. 
I  asked  him  who  he  was,  whereupon  he  turned 
upon  me  a  countenance  which  might  have  served 
for  the  model  of  a  painting  of  St  John,  and  in 
a  low,  sweet  voice  he  told  me  of  the  illness  of  the 
real  workman,  and  of  how  he  had  taken  over 
the  work  in  order  to  obtain  money  for  the  pur- 
chase of  medicine  for  him,  they  being  friends  from 
their  youth  up.    I  sent  him  away  and  told  him 


Theban  Thieves. 


257 


to  call  for  any  medicine  he  might  want  that 
evening.  I  did  not  see  him  again  until  about 
a  week  later,  when  I  happened  to  meet  him  in 
the  village  with  a  policeman  on  either  side  of  him, 
from  one  of  whom  I  learned  that  he  was  a  well- 
known  thief.  Thus  is  one  deceived  even  in  the 
case  of  real  criminals  :  how  then  can  one  expect 
to  get  at  the  truth  when  the  crime  committed  is 
so  light  an  affair  as  the  stealing  of  an  antiquity  ? 

The  following  is  a  letter  received  from  one  of 
the  greatest  thieves  in  Thebes,  who  is  now  serving 
a  term  of  imprisonment  in  the  provincial  gaol : — 

"  Sir  General  Inspector, — I  offer  this  applica- 
tion stating  that  I  am  from  the  natives  of  Gurneh, 
saying  the  following  : — 

1  On  Saturday  last  I  came  to  your  office  and 
have  been  told  that  my  family  using  the  sate  to 
strengthen  against  the  Department.  The  result 
of  this  talking  that  all  these  things  which  some- 
body pretends  are  not  the  fact.  In  fact  I  am 
taking  great  care  of  the  antiquities  for  the  pur- 
pose of  my  living  matter.  Accordingly,  I  wish 
to  be  appointed  in  the  vacant  of  watching  to  the 
antiquities  in  my  village  and  promise  myself  that 
if  anything  happens  I  do  hold  myself  resposible.' " 

I  have  no  idea  what  "  using  the  sate  to 
strengthen"  means. 

It  is  sometimes  said  that  European  excavators 
are  committing  an  offence  against  the  sensibil- 
ities of  the  peasants  by  digging  up  the  bodies 

B 


258    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


of  their  ancestors.  Nobody  will  repeat  this  re- 
mark who  has  walked  over  a  cemetery  plundered 
by  the  natives  themselves.  Here  bodies  may  be 
seen  lying  in  all  directions,  torn  limb  from  limb 
by  the  gold-seekers ;  here  beautiful  vases  may 
be  seen  smashed  to  atoms  in  order  to  make 
more  rare  the  specimens  preserved.  The  peasant 
has  no  regard  whatsoever  for  the  sanctity  of 
the  ancient  dead,  nor  does  any  superstition  in 
this  regard  deter  him  in  his  work  of  destruction. 
Fortunately  superstition  sometimes  checks  other 
forms  of  robbery.  Djins  are  believed  to  guard 
the  hoards  of  ancient  wealth  which  some  of  the 
tombs  are  thought  to  contain,  as,  for  example,  in 
the  case  of  the  tomb  in  which  the  family  was 
asphyxiated,  where  a  fiend  of  this  kind  was 
thought  to  have  throttled  the  unfortunate  ex- 
plorers. Twin  brothers  are  thought  to  have  the 
power  of  changing  themselves  into  cats  at  will ; 
and  a  certain  Huseyn  Osman,  a  harmless  indi- 
vidual enough,  and  a  most  expert  digger,  would 
often  turn  himself  into  a  cat  at  night-time,  not  only 
for  the  purpose  of  stealing  his  brother  Muhammed 
Osman's  dinner,  but  also  in  order  to  protect  the 
tombs  which  his  patron  was  occupied  in  excavating. 
One  of  the  overseers  in  some  recent  excavations 
was  said  to  have  the  power  of  detecting  all  rob- 
beries on  his  works.  The  archaeologist,  however, 
is  unfortunately  unable  to  rely  upon  this  form  of 
protection,  and  many  are  the  schemes  for  the  pre- 
vention of  pilfering  which  are  tried. 


Theban  Thieves. 


259 


In  some  excavations  a  sum  of  money  is  given  to 
the  workman  for  every  antiquity  found  by  him, 
and  these  sums  are  sufficiently  high  to  prevent  any 
outbidding  by  the  dealers.  Work  thus  becomes 
very  expensive  for  the  archaeologist,  who  is  some- 
times called  upon  to  pay  £10  or  £20  in  a  day. 
The  system  has  also  another  disadvantage,  namely, 
that  the  workmen  are  apt  to  bring  antiquities  from 
far  and  near  to  "discover"  in  their  diggings  in 
order  to  obtain  a  good  price  for  them.  Neverthe- 
less, it  would  seem  to  be  the  most  successful  of  the 
systems.  In  the  Government  excavations  it  is 
usual  to  employ  a  number  of  overseers  to  watch 
for  the  small  finds,  while  for  only  the  really  valu- 
able discoveries  is  a  reward  given. 

For  finding  the  famous  gold  hawk's  head  at 
Hieraconpolis  a  workman  received  £14,  and  with 
this  princely  sum  in  his  pocket  he  went  to  a  certain 
Englishman  to  ask  advice  as  to  the  spending  of  it. 
He  was  troubled,  he  said,  to  decide  whether  to 
buy  a  wife  or  a  cow.  He  admitted  that  he  had 
already  one  wife,  and  that  two  of  them  would  be 
sure  to  introduce  some  friction  into  what  was  now 
a  peaceful  household ;  and  he  quite  realised  that  a 
cow  would  be  less  apt  to  quarrel  with  his  first 
wife.  The  Englishman,  very  properly,  voted  for 
the  cow,  and  the  peasant  returned  home  deep  in 
thought.  While  pondering  over  the  matter  during 
the  next  few  weeks,  he  entertained  his  friends  with 
some  freedom,  and  soon  he  found  to  his  dismay 
that  he  had  not  enough  money  left  to  buy  either  a 


260    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


wife  or  a  cow.  Thereupon  he  set  to  with  a  will, 
and  soon  spent  the  remaining  guineas  in  riotous 
living.  When  he  was  next  seen  by  the  English- 
man he  was  a  beggar,  and,  what  was  worse,  his 
taste  for  evil  living  had  had  several  weeks  of 
cultivation. 

The  case  of  the  fortunate  finder  of  a  certain 
great  cache  of  mummies  was  different.  He  re- 
ceived a  reward  of  £400,  and  this  he  buried  in  a 
very  secret  place.  When  he  died  his  possessions 
descended  to  his  sons.  After  the  funeral  they  sat 
round  the  grave  of  the  old  man,  and  very  rightly 
discussed  his  virtues  until  the  sun  set.  Then  they 
returned  to  the  house  and  began  to  dig  for  the 
hidden  money.  For  some  days  they  turned  the 
sand  of  the  floor  over  ;  but  failing  to  find  what 
they  sought,  they  commenced  operations  on  a 
patch  of  desert  under  the  shade  of  some  tamarisks 
where  their  father  was  wont  to  sit  of  an  afternoon. 
It  is  said  that  for  twelve  hours  they  worked  like 
persons  possessed,  the  men  hacking  at  the  ground, 
and  the  boys  carrying  away  the  sand  in  baskets 
to  a  convenient  distance.  But  the  money  was 
never  found. 

It  is  not  often  that  the  finders  of  antiquities 
inform  the  authorities  of  their  good  fortune,  but 
when  they  do  so  an  attempt  is  made  to  give  them 
a  good  reward.  A  letter  from  the  finder  of  an 
inscribed  statue,  who  wished  to  claim  his  reward, 
read  as  follows  :  "  With  all  delight  I  please  inform 
you  that  on  8th  Jan.  was  found  a  headless  temple 
of  granite  sitting  on  a  chair  and  printed  on  it." 


Theban  Thieves. 


261 


I  will  end  this  chapter  as  I  began  it,  in  the 
defence  of  the  Theban  thieves.  In  a  place  where 
every  yard  of  ground  contains  antiquities,  and 
where  these  antiquities  may  be  so  readily  con- 
verted into  golden  guineas,  can  one  wonder  that 
every  man,  woman,  and  child  makes  use  of  his 
opportunities  in  this  respect  to  better  his  fortune  ? 
The  peasant  does  not  take  any  interest  in  the 
history  of  mankind,  and  he  cannot  be  expected  to 
know  that  in  digging  out  a  grave  and  scattering 
its  contents,  through  the  agency  of  dealers,  over 
the  face  of  the  globe,  he  loses  for  ever  the  facts 
which  the  archaeologist  is  striving  so  hard  to 
obtain.  The  scientific  excavator  does  not  think 
the  antiquities  themselves  so  valuable  as  the 
record  of  the  exact  arrangement  in  which  they 
were  found.  From  such  data  alone  can  he  ob- 
tain his  knowledge  of  the  manners  and  customs 
of  this  wonderful  people.  When  two  objects  are 
found  together,  the  date  of  one  being  known  and 
that  of  the  other  unknown,  the  archaeological 
value  of  the  find  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  former 
will  place  the  latter  in  its  correct  chronological 
position.  But  if  these  two  objects  are  sold  separ- 
ately, the  find  may  perhaps  lose  its  entire  signifi- 
cance. The  trained  archaeologist  records  every 
atom  of  information  with  which  he  meets  ;  the 
native  records  nothing.  And  hence,  if  there  is 
any  value  at  all  in  the  study  of  the  history  of 
mankind,  illegal  excavation  must  be  stopped. 


262 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE  FLOODING  OF  LOWER  NUBIA. 


The  country  of  Lower  Nubia  lies  between  the  First 
and  Second  Cataracts  of  the  Nile.  The  town  of 
Aswan,  once  famous  as  the  frontier  outpost  of 
Egypt  and  now  renowned  as  a  winter  resort  for 
Europeans  and  Americans,  stands  some  two  or 
three  miles  below  the  First  Cataract ;  and  two 
hundred  miles  southwards,  at  the  foot  of  the 
Second  Cataract,  stands  Wady  Haifa.  About 
half-way  between  these  two  points  the  little  town 
of  Derr  nestles  amidst  its  palms ;  and  here  the 
single  police-station  of  the  province  is  situated. 
Agriculturally  the  land  is  extremely  barren,  for 
the  merest  strip  of  cultivation  borders  the  river, 
and  in  many  reaches  the  desert  comes  down  to  the 
water's  edge.  The  scenery  is  rugged  and  often 
magnificent.  As  one  sails  up  the  Nile  the  rocky 
hills  on  either  side  group  themselves  into  bold 
compositions,  rising  darkly  above  the  palms  and 
acacias  reflected  in  the  water.  The  villages,  clus- 
tered on  the  hillsides  as  though  grown  like  mush- 


The  Flooding  of  Lower  Nubia.  263 


rooms  in  the  night,  are  not  different  in  colour  to 
the  ground  upon  which  they  are  built ;  but  here 
and  there  neatly  whitewashed  houses  of  consider- 
able size  are  to  be  observed.  Now  we  come  upon 
a  tract  of  desert  sand  which  rolls  down  to  the  river 
in  a  golden  slope ;  now  the  hills  recede,  leaving  an 
open  bay  wherein  there  are  patches  of  cultivated 
ground  reclaimed  from  the  wilderness  ;  and  now  a 
dense  but  narrow  palm -grove  follows  the  line  of 
the  bank  for  a  mile  or  more,  backed  by  the  villages 
at  the  foot  of  the  hills. 

The  inhabitants  are  few  in  number.  Most  of 
the  males  have  taken  service  as  cooks,  butlers, 
waiters,  and  bottle-washers  in  European  houses  or 
hotels  throughout  Egypt ;  and  consequently  one 
sees  more  women  than  men  'pottering  about  the 
villages  or  working  in  the  fields.  They  are  a  fine 
race,  clean  in  their  habits  and  cheery  in  character 
They  can  be  distinguished  with  ease  from  the 
Egyptian  jellahin;  for  their  skin  has  more  the 
appearance  of  bronze,  and  their  features  are  often 
more  aquiline.  The  women  do  not  wear  the  veil, 
and  their  dresses  are  draped  over  one  shoulder  in 
a  manner  unknown  to  Egypt.  The  method  of 
dressing  the  hair,  moreover,  is  quite  distinctive  : 
the  women  plait  it  in  innumerable  little  strands, 
those  along  the  forehead  terminating  in  bead-like 
lumps  of  bees-wax.  The  little  children  go  nude 
for  the  first  six  or  eight  years  of  their  life,  though 
the  girls  sometimes  wear  around  their  waists  a 
fringe  made  of  thin  strips  of  hide.    The  men  still 


264    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


carry  spears  in  some  parts  of  the  country,  and  a 
light  battle-axe  is  not  an  uncommon  weapon. 

There  is  no  railway  between  Aswan  and  Haifa, 
all  traffic  being  conducted  on  the  river.  Almost 
continuously  a  stream  of  native  troops  and  English 
officers  passes  up  and  down  the  Nile  bound  for 
Khartoum  or  Cairo  ;  and  in  the  winter  the  tourists 
on  steamers  and  dahdbiyehs  travel  through  the 
country  in  considerable  numbers  to  visit  the  many 
temples  which  were  here  erected  in  the  days  when 
the  land  was  richer  than  it  is  now.  The  three 
most  famous  ruins  of  Lower  Nubia  are  those  of 
Philae,  just  above  Aswan  ;  Kalabsheh,  some  forty 
miles  to  the  south  ;  and  Abu  Simbel,  about  thirty 
miles  below  Haifa  :  but  besides  these  there  are 
many  buildings  of  importance  and  interest.  The 
ancient  remains  date  from  all  periods  of  Egyptian 
history  ;  for  Lower  Nubia  played  an  important 
part  in  Pharaonic  affairs,  both  by  reason  of  its 
position  as  the  buffer  state  between  Egypt  and 
the  Sudan,  and  also  because  of  its  gold -mining 
industries.  In  old  days  it  was  divided  into  several 
tribal  states,  these  being  governed  by  the  Egyptian 
Viceroy  of  Ethiopia ;  but  the  country  seldom  re- 
volted or  gave  trouble,  and  to  the  present  day  it 
retains  its  reputation  for  peacefulness  and  orderly 
behaviour. 

Owing  to  the  building,  and  now  the  heightening, 
of  the  great  Nile  dam  at  Aswan,  erected  for  the 
purpose  of  regulating  the  flow  of  water  by  hold- 
ing back  in  the  plenteous  autumn  and  winter  the 


The  Flooding  of  Lower  Nubia.  265 


amount  necessary  to  keep  up  the  level  in  the  dry 
summer  months,  the  whole  of  the  valley  from  the 
First  Cataract  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Derr  will 
be  turned  into  a  vast  reservoir,  and  a  large  number 
of  temples  and  other  ruins  will  be  flooded.  Before 
the  dam  was  finished  the  temples  on  the  island  of 
Philae  were  strengthened  and  repaired  so  as  to  be 
safe  from  damage  by  the  water  ;  and  now  every 
other  ruin  whose  foundations  are  below  the  future 
high  -  water  level  has  been  repaired  and  safe- 
guarded. 

In  1906  and  1907  the  present  writer  was  dis- 
patched to  the  threatened  territory  to  make  a  full 
report  on  the  condition  of  the  monuments  there  ; 1 
and  a  very  large  sum  of  money  was  then  voted  for 
the  work.  Sir  Gaston  Maspero  took  the  matter 
up  in  the  spirit  which  is  associated  with  his  name  ; 
Monsieur  Barsanti  was  sent  to  repair  and  under- 
pin the  temples ;  French,  German,  and  English 
scholars  were  engaged  to  make  copies  of  the  en- 
dangered inscriptions  and  reliefs  ;  and  Dr  Beisner, 
Mr  C.  Firth,  and  others,  under  the  direction  of 
Captain  Lyons,  were  entrusted  with  the  complete 
and  exhaustive  excavation  of  all  the  cemeteries 
and  remains  between  the  dam  and  the  southern 
extremity  of  the  reservoir.  As  a  result  of  this 
work,  not  one  scrap  of  information  of  any  kind  will 
be  lost  by  the  flooding  of  the  country. 

As  was  to  be  expected,  the  building  and  raising 

1  Weigall :  1  A  Eeport  on  the  Antiquities  of  Lower  Nubia.'  (De- 
partment of  Antiquities,  Cairo,  1907.) 


266    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


of  the  dam  caused  consternation  amongst  the 
archseologically  interested  visitors  to  Egypt,  and 
very  considerably  troubled  the  Egyptologists. 
Philae,  one  of  the  most  picturesque  ruins  on  the 
Nile,  was  to  be  destroyed,  said  the  more  hysterical, 
and  numerous  other  buildings  were  to  meet  with 
the  same  fate.  A  very  great  deal  of  nonsense  was 
written  as  to  the  vandalism  of  the  English ;  and  the 
minds  of  certain  people  were  so  much  inflamed  by 
the  controversy  that  many  regrettable  words  were 
spoken.  The  Department  of  Antiquities  was  much 
criticised  for  having  approved  the  scheme,  though 
it  was  more  generally  declared  that  the  wishes  of 
that  Department  had  not  been  consulted,  which 
was  wholly  untrue.  These  strictures  are  pro- 
nounced on  all  sides  at  the  present  day,  in  spite 
of  the  very  significant  silence  and  imperturbation 
(not  to  say  supination)  of  Egyptologists,  and  it 
may  therefore  be  as  well  to  put  the  matter  plainly 
before  the  reader,  since  the  opinion  of  the  person 
who  is  in  charge  of  the  ruins  in  question,  has, 
whether  right  or  wrong,  a  sort  of  interest  attached 
to  it. 

In  dealing  with  a  question  of  this  kind  one  has 
to  clear  from  the  brain  the  fumes  of  unbalanced 
thought  and  to  behold  all  things  with  a  level 
head.  Strong  wine  is  one  of  the  lesser  causes 
of  insobriety,  and  there  is  often  more  damage 
done  by  intemperance  of  thought  in  matters 
of  criticism  than  there  is  by  actions  committed 
under    the    influence    of   other    forms    of  im- 


The  Flooding  of  Lower  Nubia.  267 


moderation.  We  are  agreed  that  it  is  a  sad 
spectacle  which  is  to  be  observed  in  the  Old  Kent 
Road  on  a  Saturday  night,  when  the  legs  of  half 
the  pedestrians  appear  to  have  lost  their  cunning. 
We  say  in  disgust  that  these  people  are  intoxicated. 
What,  then,  have  we  to  say  regarding  those  per- 
sons whose  brains  are  unbalanced  by  immoderate 
habits  of  thought,  who  are  suffering'  from  that 
primary  kind  of  intoxication  which  the  dictionary 
tells  us  is  simply  a  condition  of  the  mind  wherein 
clear  judgment  is  obscured  ?  There  is  sometimes 
a  debauchery  in  the  reasoning  faculties  of  the 
polite  which  sends  their  opinions  rollicking  on 
their  way  just  as  drink  will  send  a  man  stagger- 
ing up  the  highroad.  Temperance  and  sobriety 
are  virtues  which  in  their  relation  to  thought 
have  a  greater  value  than  they  possess  in  any 
other  regard ;  and  we  stand  in  more  urgent  need 
of  missionaries  to  preach  to  us  sobriety  of  opinion, 
a  sort  of  critical  teetotalism,  than  ever  a  drunkard 
stood  in  want  of  a  pledge. 

This  case  of  Philae  and  the  Lower  Nubian 
temples  illustrates  my  meaning.  On  the  one 
hand  there  are  those  who  tell  us  that  the  island 
temple,  far  from  being  damaged  by  its  flooding, 
is  benefited  thereby ;  and  on  the  other  hand  there 
are  persons  who  urge  that  the  engineers  concerned 
in  the  making  of  the  reservoir  should  be  tarred 
and  feathered  to  a  man.  Both  these  views  are 
distorted  and  intemperate.  Let  us  endeavour  to 
straighten  up  our  opinions,  to  walk  them  soberly 


268    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


and  decorously  before  us  in  an  atmosphere  of 
propriety. 

It  will  be  agreed  by  all  those  who  know  Egypt 
that  a  great  dam  was  necessary,  and  it  will  be 
admitted  that  no  reach  of  the  Nile  below  Wady 
Haifa  could  be  converted  into  a  reservoir  with  so 
little  detriment  to  modern  interests  as  that  of 
Lower  Nubia.  Here  there  were  very  few  cul- 
tivated fields  to  be  inundated  and  a  very  small 
number  of  people  to  be  dislodged.  There  were, 
however,  these  important  ruins  which  would  be 
flooded  by  such  a  reservoir,  and  the  engineers 
therefore  made  a  most  serious  attempt  to  find 
some  other  site  for  the  building.  A  careful  study 
of  the  Nile  valley  showed  that  the  present  site 
of  the  dam  was  the  only  spot  at  which  a  building 
of  this  kind  could  be  set  up  without  immensely 
increasing  the  cost  of  erection  and  greatly  adding 
to  the  general  difficulties  and  the  possible  dangers  of 
the  undertaking.  The  engineers  had,  therefore,  to 
ask  themselves  whether  the  damage  to  the  temples 
weighed  against  these  considerations,  whether  it 
was  right  or  not  to  expend  the  extra  sum  from  the 
taxes.  The  answer  was  plain  enough.  They  were 
of  opinion  that  the  temples  would  not  be  appreci- 
ably damaged  by  their  flooding.  They  argued,  very 
justly,  that  the  buildings  would  be  under  water 
for  only  five  months  in  each  year,  and  for  seven 
months  the  ruins  would  appear  to  be  precisely 
as  they  always  had  been.  It  was  not  necessary, 
then,  to  state  the  loss  of  money  and  the  added 


The  Flooding  of  Lower  Nubia.  269 


inconveniences  on  the  one  hand  against  the  total 
loss  of  the  temples  on  the  other.  It  was  simply 
needful  to  ask  whether  the  temporary  and  ap- 
parently harmless  inundation  of  the  ruins  each 
year  was  worth  avoiding  at  the  cost  of  several 
millions  of  precious  Government  money ;  and, 
looking  at  it  purely  from  an  administrative  point 
of  view,  remembering  that  public  money  had  to 
be  economised  and  inextravagantly  dealt  with,  I 
do  not  see  that  the  answer  given  was  in  any  way 
outrageous.  Philae  and  the  other  temples  were 
not  to  be  harmed  :  they  were  but  to  be  closed  to 
the  public,  so  to  speak,  for  the  winter  months. 

This  view  of  the  question  is  not  based  upon 
any  error.  In  regard  to  the  possible  destruction 
of  Philae  by  the  force  of  the  water,  Mr  Somers 
Clarke,  F.S.A.,  whose  name  is  known  all  over  the 
world  in  connection  with  his  work  at  St  Paul's 
Cathedral  and  elsewhere,  states  definitely 1  that 
he  is  convinced  that  the  temples  will  not  be  over- 
thrown by  the  flood,  and  his  opinion  is  shared 
by  all  those  who  have  studied  the  matter  care- 
fully. Of  course  it  is  possible  that,  in  spite  of 
all  the  works  of  consolidation  which  have  been 
effected,  some  cracks  may  appear ;  but  during  the 
months  when  the  temple  is  out  of  water  each  year, 
these  may  be  repaired.  I  cannot  see  that  there 
is  the  least  danger  of  an  extensive  collapse  of  the 
buildings ;  but  should  this  occur,  the  entire  temple 
will  have  to  be  removed  and  set  up  elsewhere, 

1  Proc.  Soc.  Antiq.,  April  20,  1898. 


270    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


Each  summer  and  autumn  when  the  water  goes 
down  and  the  buildings  once  more  stand  as  they 
did  in  the  days  of  the  Ptolemies  and  Romans,  we 
shall  have  ample  time  and  opportunity  1?o  discuss 
the  situation  and  to  take  all  proper  steps  for  the 
safeguarding  of  the  temples  against  further 
damage ;  and  even  were  we  to  be  confronted  by 
a  mass  of  fallen  ruins,  scattered  pell-mell  over  the 
island  by  the  power  of  the  water,  I  am  convinced 
that  every  block  could  be  replaced  before  the  flood 
rose  again.  The  temple  of  Maharraka  was  entirely 
rebuilt  in  three  or  four  weeks. 

Now,  as  to  the  effect  of  the  water  upon  the 
reliefs  and  inscriptions  with  which  the  walls  01 
the  temples  at  Philae  are  covered.  In  June  1905 
I  reported  1  that  a  slight  disintegration  of  the  sur- 
face of  the  stone  was  noticeable,  and  that  the 
sharp  lines  of  the  hieroglyphs  had  become  some- 
what blurred.  This  is  due  to  the  action  of  the 
salts  in  the  sandstone  ;  but  these  salts  have  now 
disappeared,  and  the  disintegration  will  not  con- 
tinue. The  Report  on  the  Temples  of  Philae, 
issued  by  the  Ministry  of  Public  Works  in  1908, 
makes  this  quite  clear ;  and  I  may  add  that  the 
proof  of  the  statement  is  to  be  found  at  the  many 
points  on  the  Nile  where  there  are  the  remains 
of  quay  walls  dating  from  Pharaonic  times.  Many 
of  these  quays  are  constructed  of  inscribed  blocks 
of  a  stone  precisely  similar  in  quality  to  that  used 
at  Philae ;  and  although  they  have  been  sub- 

1  Les  Annales  du  Service  des  Antiquites  d'Egypte,  vii.  1,  p.  74 


The  Flooding  of  Lower  Nubia.  271 


merged  for  many  hundreds  of  years,  the  lines  of 
the  hieroglyphs  are  almost  as  sharp  now  as  they 
ever  were.  The  action  of  the  water  appears  to 
have  little  effect  upon  sandstone,  and  it  may  thus 
be  safely  predicted  that  the  reliefs  and  inscriptions 
at  Philae  will  not  suffer. 

There  still  remain  some  traces  of  colour  upon 
certain  reliefs,  and  these  will  disappear.  But 
archaeologically  the  loss  will  be  insignificant,  and 
artistically  it  will  not  be  much  felt.  With  regard 
to  the  colour  upon  the  capitals  of  the  columns 
in  the  Hall  of  Isis,  however,  one  must  admit 
that  its  destruction  would  be  a  grave  loss  to  us, 
and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  capitals  will  be 
removed  and  replaced  by  dummies,  or  else  most 
carefully  copied  in  facsimile. 

Such  is  the  case  of  Philae  when  looked  at  from 
a  practical  point  of  view.  Artistically  and  senti- 
mentally, of  course,  one  deeply  regrets  the  flooding 
of  the  temple.  Philae  with  its  palms  was  a  very 
charming  sight,  and  although  the  island  still  looks 
very  picturesque  each  year  when  the  flood  has 
receded  and  the  ground  is  covered  with  grasses 
and  vegetation,  it  will  not  again  possess  quite  the 
magic  that  once  caused  it  to  be  known  as  the 
"pearl  of  Egypt."  But  these  are  considerations 
which  are  to  be  taken  into  account  with  very 
great  caution  as  standing  against  the  interest  of 
modern  Egypt.  If  Philae  were  to  be  destroyed, 
one  might,  very  properly,  desire  that  modern 
interests  should  not  receive  sole  consideration ; 


272    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


but  it  is  not  to  be  destroyed,  or  even  much 
damaged,  and  consequently  the  lover  of  Philae 
has  but  two  objections  to  offer  to  the  operations 
now  proceeding  :  firstly,  that  the  temples  will  be 
hidden  from  sight  during  a  part  of  each  year ; 
and  secondly,  that  water  is  an  incongruous  and 
unharmonious  element  to  introduce  into  the 
sanctuaries  of  the  gods. 

Let  us  consider  these  two  objections.  As  to 
the  hiding  of  the  temple  under  the  water,  we 
have  to  consider  to  what  class  of  people  the 
examination  of  the  ruins  is  necessary.  Archae- 
ologists, officials,  residents,  students,  and  all 
natives,  are  able  to  visit  the  place  in  the  autumn, 
when  the  island  stands  high  and  dry,  and  the 
weather  is  not  uncomfortably  hot.  Every  person 
who  desires  to  see  Philae  in  its  original  condition 
can  arrange  to  make  his  journey  to  Lower  Nubia 
in  the  autumn  or  early  winter.  It  is  only  the 
ordinary  winter  tourist  who  will  find  the  ruins 
lost  to  view  beneath  the  brown  waters ;  and 
while  his  wishes  are  certainly  to  be  consulted  to 
some  extent,  there  can  be  no  question  that  the 
fortunes  of  the  Egyptian  farmers  must  receive 
the  prior  attention.  And  as  to  the  incongruity 
of  the  introduction  of  the  water  into  these  sacred 
precincts,  one  may  first  remark  that  water  stands 
each  year  in  the  temples  of  Karnak,  Luxor,  the 
Ramesseum,  Shenhur,  Esneh,  and  many  another, 
introduced  by  the  natural  rise  of  the  Nile,  thus 
giving  us  a  quieting  familiarity  with  such  a  con- 


The  Flooding  of  Lower  Nubia.  273 


dition ;  and  one  may  further  point  out  that  the 
presence  of  water  in  the  buildings  is  not  (speaking 
arcbaeologically)  more  discordant  than  that  of  the 
palms  and  acacias  which  clustered  around  the  ruins 
previous  to  the  building  of  the  dam,  and  gave 
Philae  its  peculiar  charm.  Both  water  and  trees 
are  out  of  place  in  a  temple  once  swept  and 
garnished,  and  it  is  only  a  habit  of  thought  that 
makes  the  trees  which  grow  in  such  ruins  more 
congruous  to  the  eye  than  water  lapping  around 
the  pillars  and  taking  the  fair  reflections  of  the 
stonework. 

What  remains,  then,  of  the  objections?  Nothing, 
except  an  undefined  sense  of  dismay  that  persists 
in  spite  of  all  arguments.  There  are  few  persons 
who  will  not  feel  this  sorrow  at  the  flooding  of 
Philae,  who  will  not  groan  inwardly  as  the  water 
rises ;  and  yet  I  cannot  too  emphatically  repeat 
that  there  is  no  real  cause  for  this  apprehension 
and  distress. 

A  great  deal  of  damage  has  been  done  to  the 
prestige  of  the  archaeologist  by  the  ill-considered 
outbursts  of  those  persons  who  have  allowed  this 
natural  perturbation  to  have  full  sway  in  their 
minds.  The  man  or  woman  who  has  protested 
the  loudest  has  seldom  been  in  a  position  even 
to  offer  an  opinion.  Thus  every  temperate  thinker 
has  come  to  feel  a  greater  distaste  for  the  pro- 
paganda of  those  persons  who  would  have  hindered 
the  erection  of  the  dam  than  for  the  actual  effects 
of  its  erection.    Vegetarians,  Anti-Vivisectionists, 

S 


274    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


Militant  Suffragists,  Little  Englanders,  and  the 
like,  have  taught  us  to  beware  of  the  signs  and 
tokens  of  the  unbalanced  mind ;  and  it  becomes 
the  duty  of  every  healthy  person  to  fly  from  the 
contamination  of  their  hysteria,  even  though  the 
principles  which  lie  at  the  base  of  their  doctrines 
may  not  be  entirely  without  reason.  We  must 
avoid  hasty  and  violent  judgment  as  we  would 
the  plague.  No  honest  man  will  deny  that  the 
closing  of  Philae  for  half  the  year  is  anything 
but  a  very  regrettable  necessity ;  but  it  has  come 
to  this  pass,  that  a  self-respecting  person  will  be 
very  chary  in  admitting  that  he  is  not  mightily 
well  satisfied  with  the  issue  of  the  whole  business. 

Recently  a  poetic  effusion  has  been  published 
bewailing  the  "death"  of  Philae,  and  because 
the  author  is  famous  the  world  over  for  the 
charm  of  his  writing,  it  has  been  read,  and  its 
lament  has  been  echoed  by  a  large  number  of 
persons.  It  is  necessary  to  remind  the  reader, 
however,  that  because  a  man  is  a  great  artist  it 
does  not  follow  that  he  has  a  sober  judgment. 
The  outward  appearance,  and  a  disordered  opinion 
on  matters  of  everyday  life,  are  often  sufficient 
indication  of  this  intemperance  of  mind  which  is 
so  grave  a  human  failing.  A  man  and  his  art,  of 
course,  are  not  to  be  confused ;  and  perhaps  it  is 
unfair  to  assess  the  art  by  the  artist,  but  there 
are  many  persons  who  will  understand  my  meaning 
when  I  suggest  that  it  is  extremely  difficult  to 
give   serious   attention   to  writers   or  speakers 


The  Flooding  of  Lower  Nubia.  275 


of  a  certain  class.  Philae  is  not  dead.  It 
may  safely  be  said  that  the  temples  will  last 
as  long  as  the  dam  itself.  Let  us  never  forget 
that  Past  and  Present  walk  hand  in  hand,  and, 
as  between  friends,  there  must  always  be  much 
"  give  and  take."  How  many  millions  of  pounds 
I  wonder,  has  been  spent  by  the  Government,  from 
the  revenues  derived  from  the  living  Egyptians, 
for  the  excavation  and  preservation  of  the  records 
of  the  past  ?  Will  the  dead  not  make,  in  return, 
this  sacrifice  for  the  benefit  of  the  striving  farmers 
whose  money  has  been  used  for  the  resuscitation 
of  their  history  ? 

A  great  deal  has  been  said  regarding  the  de- 
struction of  the  ancient  inscriptions  which  are 
cut  in  such  numbers  upon  the  granite  rocks  in 
the  region  of  the  First  Cataract,  many  of  which 
are  of  great  historical  importance.  Vast  quanti- 
ties of  granite  have  been  quarried  for  the  building 
of  the  dam,  and  fears  have  been  expressed  that 
in  the  course  of  this  work  these  [graffiti  may  have 
been  blasted  into  powder.  It  is  necessary  to  say, 
therefore,  that  with  the  exception  of  one  inscrip- 
tion which  was  damaged  when  the  first  quarrymen 
set  to  work  upon  the  preliminary  tests  for  suitable 
stone,  not  a  single  hieroglyph  has  been  harmed. 
The  present  writer  numbered  all  the  inscriptions 
in  white  paint  and  marked  out  quarrying  conces- 
sions, while  several  watchmen  were  set  to  guard 
these  important  relics.  In  this  work,  as  in  all 
else,  the  Department  of  Antiquities  received  the 


276    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


most  generous  assistance  from  the  Department 
concerned  with  the  building  of  the  dam ;  and  I 
should  like  to  take  this  opportunity  of  saying  that 
archaeologists  owe  a  far  greater  debt  to  the  officials 
in  charge  of  the  various  works  at  Aswan  than  they 
do  to  the  bulk  of  their  own  fellow-workers.  The 
desire  to  save  every  scrap  of  archaeological  infor- 
mation has  been  dominant  in  the  minds  of  all 
concerned  in  the  work  throughout  the  whole 
undertaking. 

Besides  the  temples  of  Philae  there  are  several 
other  ruins  which  will  be  flooded  in  part  by  the 
water  when  the  heightening  of  the  reservoir  is 
completed.  On  the  island  of  Bigeh,  over  against 
Philae,  there  is  a  little  temple  of  no  great  historical 
value  which  will  pass  under  water.  The  cemeteries 
on  this  island,  and  also  on  the  mainland  in  this 
neighbourhood,  have  been  completely  excavated, 
and  have  yielded  most  important  information. 
Farther  up  stream  there  stands  the  little  temple 
of  Dabod.  This  has  been  repaired  and  strength- 
ened, and  will  not  come  to  any  harm  ;  while  all 
the  cemeteries  in  the  vicinity,  of  course,  have 
been  cleared  out.  We  next  come  to  the  fortress 
and  quarries  of  Kertassi,  which  will  be  partly 
flooded.  These  have  been  put  into  good  order, 
and  there  need  be  no  fear  of  their  being  damaged. 
The  temple  of  Tafeh,  a  few  miles  farther  to  the 
south,  has  also  been  safeguarded,  and  all  the 
ancient  graves  have  been  excavated. 
\  Next  comes  the  great  temple   of  Kalabsheh 


The  Flooding  of  Lower  Nubia.  277 


which,  in  1907,  when  my  report  was  made,  was 
in  a  sorry  state.  The  great  hall  was  filled  with 
the  ruins  of  the  fallen  colonnade  and  its  roof ;  the 
hypostyle  hall  was  a  mass  of  tumbled  blocks  over 
which  the  visitor  was  obliged  to  climb  ;  and  all 
the  courts  and  chambers  were  heaped  up  with 
debris.  Now,  however,  all  this  has  been  set  to 
rights,  and  the  temple  stands  once  more  in  its 
glory.  The  water  will  flood  the  lower  levels  of 
the  building  each  year  for  a  few  months,  but  there 
is  no  chance  of  a  collapse  taking  place,  and  the 
only  damage  which  is  to  be  anticipated  is  the  loss 
of  the  colour  upon  the  reliefs  in  the  inner  cham- 
bers, and  the  washing  away  of  some  later  Coptic 
paintings,  already  hardly  distinguishable,  in  the 
first  hall. 

The  temple  is  not  very  frequently  visited,  and 
it  cannot  be  said  that  its  closing  for  each  winter 
will  be  keenly  felt ;  and  since  it  will  certainly 
come  to  no  harm  under  the  gentle  Nile,  I  do  not 
see  that  its  fate  need  cause  any  consternation. 
Let  those  who  are  able  visit  this  fine  ruin  in 
the  early  months  of  winter,  and  they  will  be 
rewarded  for  their  trouble  by  a  view  of  a  magni- 
ficent temple  in  what  can  only  be  described  as 
apple-pie  order.  I  venture  to  think  that  a  building 
of  this  kind  washed  by  the  water  is  a  more  in- 
spiring sight  than  a  tumbled  mass  of  ruins  ris- 
ing from  amidst  an  encroaching  jumble  of  native 
hovels. 

Farther   up  the  river   stands  the  temple  of 


278    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


Dendur.  This  will  be  partly  inundated,  though 
the  main  portion  of  the  building  stands  above 
the  highest  level  of  the  reservoir.  Extensive 
repairs  have  been  carried  out  here,  and  every 
grave  in  the  vicinity  has  been  examined.  The 
fortress  of  Koshtamneh,  which  is  made  of  mud- 
bricks,  will  be  for  the  most  part  destroyed;  but 
now  that  a  complete  record  of  this  construction 
has  been  made,  the  loss  is  insignificant.  Some- 
what farther  to  the  south  stands  the  imposing 
temple  of  Dakkeh,  the  lower  levels  of  which  will 
be  flooded.  This  temple  has  been  most  extensively 
patched  up  and  strengthened,  and  no  damage  of 
any  kind  will  be  caused  by  its  inundation.  The 
vast  cemeteries  in  the  neighbourhood  have  all  been 
excavated,  and  the  remains  of  the  town  have  been 
thoroughly  examined.  Still  farther  to  the  south 
stands  the  mud-brick  fortress  of  Kubban,  which, 
like  Koshtamneh,  will  be  partly  destroyed ;  but 
the  detailed  excavations  and  records  which  have 
here  been  jnade  will  prevent  any  loss  being  felt  by 
archaeologists.  Finally,  the  temple  of  Maharraka 
requires  to  be  mentioned.  This  building  in  1907 
was  a  complete  ruin,  but  it  was  carefully  rebuilt, 
and  now  it  is  quite  capable  of  withstanding  the 
pressure  of  the  water.  From  this  point  to  the 
southern  end  of  the  new  reservoir  there  are  no 
temples  below  the  new  flood-level ;  and  by  the 
time  that  the  water  is  raised  every  grave  and 
other  relic  along  the  entire  banks  of  the  river 
will  have  been  examined. 


The  Flooding  of  Lower  Nubia.  279 


To  complete  these  works  it  is  proposed  to  erect 
is  museum  at  Aswan  wherein  the  antiquities  dis- 
covered in  Lower  Nubia  should  be  exhibited  ;  and 
a  permanent  collection  of  objects  illustrating  the 
arts,  crafts,  and  industries  of  Lower  Nubia  at  all 
periods  of  its  history,  should  be  displayed.  It  is 
a  question  whether  money  will  he  found  for  the 
executing  of  this  scheme  ;  but  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  a  museum  of  this  kind,  situated  at 
the  virtual  capital  of  Lower  Nubia,  would  be  a 
most  valuable  institution. 

In  1907  the  condition  of  the  monuments  of 
Lower  Nubia  was  very  bad.  The  temples  already 
mentioned  were  in  a  most  deplorable  state ;  the 
cemeteries  were  being  robbed,  and  there  was  no 
proper  organisation  for  the  protection  of  the 
ancient  sites.  There  are,  moreover,  several 
temples  above  the  level  of  high  water,  and  these 
were  also  in  a  sad  condition.  Gerf  Husen  was 
both  dirty  and  dilapidated ;  Wady  Sabua  was 
deeply  buried  in  sand ;  Amada  was  falling  to 
pieces ;  Derr  was  the  receptacle  for  the  refuse 
of  the  town;  and  even  Abu  Simbel  itself  was 
in  a  dangerous  state.  In  my  report  I  gave  a 
gloomy  picture  indeed  of  the  plight  of  the  monu- 
ments. But  now  all  this  is  changed.  Sir  Gaston 
Maspero  made  several  personal  visits  to  the 
country  ;  every  temple  wras  set  in  order ;  many 
new  watchmen  were  appointed ;  and  to-day  this 
territory  may  be  said  to  be  the  "show"  portion 
of  this  inspectorate.    Now,  it  must  be  admitted 


280    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


that  the  happy  change  is  due  solely  to  the  atten- 
tion to  which  the  country  was  subjected  by  reason 
of  its  flooding ;  and  it  is  not  the  less  true  because 
it  is  paradoxical  that  the  proposed  submersion  of 
certain  temples  has  saved  all  the  Lower  Nubian 
monuments  from  rapid  destruction  at  the  hands 
of  robbers,  ignorant  natives,  and  barbarous 
European  visitors.  What  has  been  lost  in  Philae 
has  been  gained  a  thousand-fold  in  the  repairing 
and  safeguarding  of  the  temples,  and  in  the 
scientific  excavation  of  the  cemeteries  farther  to 
the  south. 

Here,  then,  is  the  sober  fact  of  the  matter.  Are 
the  English  and  Egyptian  officials  such  vandals 
who  have  voted  over  a  hundred  thousand  pounds 
for  the  safeguarding  of  the  monuments  of  Lower 
Nubia?  What  country  in  the  whole  world  has 
spent  such  vast  sums  of  money  upon  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  relics  of  the  Past  as  has  Egypt  during 
the  last  five -and- twenty  years  ?  The  Government 
has  treated  the  question  throughout  in  a  fair  and 
generous  manner;  and  those  who  rail  at  the 
officials  will  do  well  to  consider  seriously  the  re- 
marks which  I  have  dared  to  make  upon  the 
subject  of  temperate  criticism. 


28l 


CHAPTER  XII. 

ARCHAEOLOGY  IN  THE  OPEN. 

In  this  chapter  I  propose  to  state  the  case  in 
favour  of  the  archaeologist  who  works  abroad  in 
the  field,  in  contrast  to  him  who  studies  at  home 
in  the  museum,  in  the  hope  that  others  will 
follow  the  example  of  that  scholar  to  whom  this 
volume  is  dedicated,  who  does  both. 

I  have  said  in  a  previous  chapter  that  the 
archaeologist  is  generally  considered  to  be  a  kind 
of  rag-and-bone  man:  one  who,  sitting  all  his 
life  in  a  dusty  room,  shuns  the  touch  of  the 
wind  and  takes  no  pleasure  in  the  vanities  under 
the  sun.  Actually,  this  is  not  so  very  often  a 
true  description  of  him.  The  ease  with  which 
long  journeys  are  now  undertaken,  the  immunity 
from  insult  or  peril  which  the  traveller  now 
enjoys,  have  made  it  possible  for  the  archaeologist 
to  seek  his  information  at  its  source  in  almost 
all  the  countries  of  the  world  ;  and  he  is  not 
obliged,  as  was  his  grandfather,  to  take  it  at 
second  -  hand  from  the  volumes  of  mediaeval 
scholars.    Moreover,  the  necessary  collections  of 


282    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


books  of  reference  are  now  to  be  found  in  very 
diverse  places ;  and  thus  it  comes  about  that 
there  are  plenty  of  archaeologists  who  are  able 
to  leave  their  own  museums  and  studies  for 
limited  periods. 

And  as  regards  his  supposed  untidy  habits, 
the  phase  of  cleanliness  which,  like  a  purifying 
wind,  descended  suddenly  upon  the  world  in  the 
second  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  has 
penetrated  even  to  libraries  and  museums,  re- 
moving every  speck  of  dust  therefrom.  The 
archaeologist,  when  engaged  in  the  sedentary  side 
of  his  profession,  lives  nowadays  in  an  atmo- 
sphere charged  with  the  odours  of  furniture  - 
polish  and  monkey -brand.  A  place  less  dusty 
than  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  in  South 
Kensington,  or  than  the  Ashmolean  Museum  at 
Oxford,  could  not  easily  be  imagined.  The  dis- 
gusting antiquarian  of  a  past  generation,  with 
his  matted  locks  and  stained  clothing,  could  but 
be  ill  at  ease  in  such  surroundings,  and  could 
claim  no  brotherhood  with  the  majority  of  the 
present  -  day  archaeologists.  Cobwebs  are  now 
taboo ;  and  the  misguided  old  man  who  dwelt 
amongst  them  is  seldom  to  be  found  outside  of 
caricature,  save  in  the  more  remote  corners  of 
the  land. 

The  archaeologist  in  these  days,  then,  is  not 
often  confined  permanently  to  his  museum,  though 
in  many  cases  he  remains  there  as  much  as  pos- 


[Photo  by  H.  Carter. 


A  relief  representing-  Queen  Tiy,  from  the  tomb  of  Userhat  at  Thebes. 
This  relief  was  stolen  from  the  tomb,  and  found  its  way  to  the 
Brussels  Museum,  where  it  is  shown  in  the  damaged  condition 
seen  in  Plate  xxvii. 


Pl.  xxvi. 


Archaeology  in  the  Open.  283 


sible ;  and  still  less  often  is  he  a  person  of  ob- 
jectionable appearance.  The  science  is  generally 
represented  by  two  classes  of  scholar  :  the  man 
who  sits  in  the  museum  or  library  for  the  greater 
part  of  his  life,  and  lives  as  though  he  would  be 
worthy  of  the  furniture-polish,  and  the  man  who 
works  in  the  field  for  a  part  of  the  year  and  then 
lives  as  though  he  regarded  the  clean  airs  of 
heaven  in  even  higher  estimation.  Thus,  in  argu- 
ing the  case  for  the  field-worker,  as  I  propose 
here  to  do,  there  is  no  longer  the  easy  target  of 
the  dusty  antiquarian  at  which  to  hurl  the  javelin. 
One  cannot  merely  urge  a  musty  individual  to 
come  out  into  the  open  air :  that  would  make 
an  easy  argument.  One  has  to  take  aim  at  the 
less  vulnerable  person  of  the  scholar  who  chooses 
to  spend  the  greater  part  of  his  time  in  a  smart 
gallery  of  exhibits  or  in  a  well-ordered  and  spot- 
less library,  and  whose  only  fault  is  that  he  is  too 
fond  of  those  places.  One  may  no  longer  tease 
him  about  his  dusty  surroundings ;  but  I  think  it 
is  possible  to  accuse  him  of  setting  a  very  bad 
example  by  his  affection  for  "  home  comforts," 
and  of  causing  indirectly  no  end  of  mischief.  It 
is  a  fact  that  there  are  many  Greek  scholars  who 
are  so  accustomed  to  read  their  texts  in  printed 
books  that  they  could  not  make  head  nor  tail 
of  an  original  document  written  in  a  cursive 
Greek  hand ;  and  there  are  not  a  few  students 
of  Egyptian  archaeology  who  do  not  know  the 


284    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


conditions  and  phenomena  of  the  country  suffi- 
ciently to  prevent  the  occurrence  of  occasional 
6 'howlers"  in  the  exposition  of  their  theories. 

There  are  three  main  arguments  which  may  be 
set  forward  to  induce  Egyptologists  to  come  as 
often  as  possible  to  Egypt,  and  to  urge  their 
students  to  do  so,  instead  of  educating  the  mind 
to  the  habit  of  working  at  home.  * 

Firstly,  the  study  of  archaeology  in  the  open 
helps  to  train  up  young  men  in  the  path  of 
health  in  which  they  should  go.  Work  in  the 
Egyptian  desert,  for  example,  is  one  of  the  most 
healthy  and  inspiring  pursuits  that  could  be 
imagined ;  and  study  in  the  shrines  overlooking 
the  Nile,  where,  as  at  Gebel  Silsileh,  one  has  to 
dive  into  the  cool  river  and  swim  to  the  sun- 
scorched  scene  of  one's  work,  is  surely  more 
invigorating  than  study  in  the  atmosphere  of 
the  British  Museum.  A  gallop  up  to  the  Tombs 
of  the  Kings  puts  a  man  in  a  readier  mood  for  a 
morning's  work  than  does  a  drive  in  an  omnibus 
along  the  Tottenham  Court  Road  ;  and  he  will  feel 
a  keenness  as  he  pulls  out  his  note-book  that  he 
can  never  have  experienced  in  his  western  city. 
There  is,  moreover,  a  certain  amount  of  what  is 
called  ' '  roughing  it"  to  be  endured  by  the  arch- 
aeologist in  Egypt ;  and  thus  the  body  becomes 
toughened  and  prepared  for  any  necessary  spurt 
of  work.  To  rough  it  in  the  open  is  the  best 
medicine  for  tired  heads,  as  it  is  the  finest  tonic 
for  brains  in  a  normal  condition. 


Archaeology  in  the  Open.  285 


In  parenthesis  an  explanation  must  be  given 
of  what  is  meant  here  by  that  much  misunder- 
stood condition  of  life  which  is  generally  known 
as  "roughing  it."  A  man  who  is  accustomed 
to  the  services  of  two  valets  will  believe  that 
he  is  roughing  it  when  he  is  left  to  put  the 
diamond  studs  in  his  evening  shirts  with  his 
own  fingers ;  and  a  man  who  has  tramped  the 
roads  all  his  life  will  hardly  consider  that  he  is 
roughing  it  when  he  is  outlawed  upon  the  un- 
sheltered moors  in  late  autumn.  The  degree  of 
hardship  to  which  I  refer  lies  between  these  two 
extremes.  The  science  of  Egyptology  does  not 
demand  from  its  devotees  a  performance  of  many 
extreme  acts  of  discomfort ;  but,  during  the  pro- 
gress of  active  work,  it  does  not  afford  many 
opportunities  for  luxurious  self-indulgence,  or  for 
any  slackness  in  the  taking  of  exercise. 

As  a  protest  against  the  dilettante  antiquarian 
(who  is  often  as  objectionable  a  character  as  the 
unwashed  scholar)  there  are  certain  archaeologists 
who  wear  the  modern  equivalent  of  a  hair  shirt, 
who  walk  abroad  with  pebbles  in  their  shoes,  and 
who  speak  of  the  sitting  upon  an  easy-chair  as  a 
moral  set-back.  The  strained  and  posed  life  which 
such  savants  lead  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  rough 
one ;  for  there  is  constant  luxury  in  the  thought  of 
their  own  toughness,  and  infinite  comfort  in  the 
sense  of  superiority  which  they  permit  themselves 
to  feel.  It  is  not  roughing  it  to  feed  from  a  bare 
board  when  a  tablecloth  adds  insignificantly  to  the 


286    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


impedimenta  of  the  camp  :  it  is  pretending  to  rough 
it.  It  is  not  roughing  it  to  eat  tinned  food  out  of 
the  tin  when  a  plate  costs  a  penny  or  two :  it  is 
either  hypocrisy  or  slovenliness. 

To  rough  it  is  to  lead  an  exposed  life  under  con- 
ditions which  preclude  the  possibility  of  indulging 
in  certain  comforts  which,  in  their  place  and  at  the 
right  time,  are  enjoyed  and  appreciated.  A  man 
may  well  be  said  to  rough  it  when  he  camps  in  the 
open,  and  dispenses  with  the  luxuries  of  civilisa- 
tion ;  when  he  pours  a  jug  of  water  over  himself 
instead  of  lying  in  ecstasy  in  an  enamelled  bath  ; 
eats  a  meal  of  two  undefined  courses  instead  of 
one  of  five  or  six ;  twangs  a  banjo  to  the  moon 
instead  of  ravishing  his  ear  with  a  sonata  upon 
the  grand  piano ;  rolls  himself  in  a  blanket  in- 
stead of  sitting  over  the  library  fire ;  turns  in  at 
9  p.m.  and  rises  ere  the  sun  has  topped  the  hills 
instead  of  keeping  late  hours  and  lying  abed ; 
sleeps  on  the  ground  or  upon  a  narrow  camp- 
bed  (which  occasionally  collapses)  instead  of 
sprawling  at  his  ease  in  a  four-poster. 

A  life  of  this  kind  cannot  fail  to  be  of  benefit 
to  the  health  ;  and,  after  all,  the  work  of  a  healthy 
man  is  likely  to  be  of  greater  value  than  that  of 
one  who  is  anaemic  or  out  of  condition.  It  is 
the  first  duty  of  a  scholar  to  give  attention  to  his 
muscles,  for  he,  more  than  other  men,  has  the 
opportunity  to  become  enfeebled  by  indoor  work. 
Few  students  can  give  sufficient  time  to  physical 
exercise ;   but  in  Egypt  the  exercise  is  taken 


Archaeology  in  the  Open.  287 


during  the  course  of  the  work,  and  not  an  hour 
is  wasted.  The  muscles  harden  and  the  health 
is  ensured  without  the  expending  of  a  moment's 
thought  upon  the  subject. 

Archaeology  is  too  often  considered  to  be  the 
pursuit  of  weak-chested  youths  and  eccentric  old 
men  :  it  is  seldom  regarded  as  a  possible  vocation 
for  normal  persons  of  sound  health  and  balanced 
mind.  An  athletic  and  robust  young  man,  clothed 
in  the  ordinary  costume  of  a  gentleman,  will  tell 
a  new  acquaintance  that  he  is  an  Egyptologist, 
whereupon  the  latter  will  exclaim  in  surprise : 
"Not  really  ? — you  don't  look  like  one."  A  kind 
of  mystery  surrounds  the  science.  The  layman 
supposes  the  antiquarian  to  be  a  very  profound 
and  erudite  person,  who  has  pored  over  his 
books  since  a  baby,  and  has  shunned  those  games 
and  sports  which  generally  make  for  a  healthy 
constitution.  The  study  of  Egyptology  is  thought 
to  require  a  depth  of  knowledge  that  places  its 
students  outside  the  limits  of  normal  learning, 
and  presupposes  in  them  an  unhealthy  amount  of 
schooling.    This,  of  course,  is  absurd. 

Nobody  would  expect  an  engineer  who  built 
bridges  and  dams,  or  a  great  military  commander, 
to  be  a  seedy  individual  with  longish  hair,  pale 
face,  and  weak  eyesight ;  and  yet  probably  he  has 
twice  the  brain  capacity  of  the  average  archaeolo- 
gist. It  is  because  the  life  of  the  antiquarian  is, 
or  is  generally  thought  to  be,  unhealthy  and  slug- 
gish that  he  is  so  universally  regarded  as  a  worm. 


288    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


Some  attempt  should  be  made  to  rid  the  science 
of  this  forbidding  aspect ;  and  for  this  end  students 
ought  to  do  their  best  to  make  it  possible  for  them 
to  be  regarded  as  ordinary,  normal,  healthy  men. 
Let  them  discourage  the  popular  belief  that  they 
are  prodigies,  freaks  of  mental  expansion.  Let 
their  first  desire  be  to  show  themselves  good, 
useful,  hardy,  serviceable  citizens  or  subjects,  and 
they  will  do  much  to  remove  the  stigma  from  their 
profession.  Let  them  be  acquainted  with  the 
feeling  of  a  bat  or  racket  in  the  hands,  or  a  saddle 
between  the  knees ;  let  them  know  the  rough  path 
over  the  mountains,  or  the  diving-pool  amongst  the 
rocks,  and  their  mentality  will  not  be  found  to 
suffer.  A  winter's  "  roughing  it"  in  the  Theban 
necropolis  or  elsewhere  would  do  much  to  banish 
the  desire  for  perpetual  residence  at  home  in  the 
west ;  and  a  season  in  Egypt  would  alter  the  point 
of  view  of  the  student  more  considerably  than  he 
could  imagine.  Moreover,  the  appearance  of  the 
scholar  prancing  about  upon  his  fiery  steed  (even 
though  it  be  but  an  Egyptian  donkey)  will  help  to 
dispel  the  current  belief  that  he  is  incapable  of 
physical  exertion  ;  and  his  reddened  face  rising,  like 
the  morning  sun,  above  the  rocks  on  some  steep 
pathway  over  the  Theban  hills  will  give  the 
passer-by  cause  to  alter  his  opinion  of  those  who 
profess  and  call  themselves  Egyptologists. 

As  a  second  argument  a  subject  must  be  intro- 
duced which  will  be  distasteful  to  a  large  number 
of  archaeologists.     I  refer  to  the  narrow-minded 


Archaeology  in  the  Open.  289 


policy  of  the  curators  of  certain  European  and 
American  museums,  whose  desire  it  is  at  all  costs 
to  place  Egyptian  and  other  eastern  antiquities 
actually  before  the  eyes  of  western  students,  in 
order  that  they  and  the  public  may  have  the 
entertainment  of  examining  at  home  the  wonders 
of  lands  which  they  make  no  effort  to  visit.  I 
have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  craze  for 
recklessly  bringing  away  unique  antiquities  from 
Egypt  to  be  exhibited  in  western  museums  for  the 
satisfaction  of  the  untravelled  man,  is  the  most 
pernicious  bit  of  folly  to  be  found  in  the  whole 
broad  realm  of  archaeological  misbehaviour. 

A  museum  has  three  main  justifications  for  its 
existence.  In  the  first  place,  like  a  home  for  lost 
dogs,  it  is  a  repository  for  stray  objects.  No 
curator  should  endeavour  to  procure  for  his 
museum  any  antiquity  which  could  be  safely 
exhibited  on  its  original  sight  and  in  its  original 
position.  He  should  receive  only  those  stray 
objects  which  otherwise  would  be  lost  to  sight, 
or  those  which  would  be  in  danger  of  destruction. 
The  curator  of  a  picture  gallery  is  perfectly  justi- 
fied in  purchasing  any  old  master  which  is  legiti- 
mately on  sale;  but  he  is  not  justified  in  obtaining 
a  painting  direct  from  the  walls  of  a  church  where 
it  has  hung  for  centuries,  and  where  it  should  still 
hang.  In  the  same  way  a  curator  of  a  museum  of 
antiquities  should  make  it  his  first  endeavour  not 
so  much  to  obtain  objects  direct  from  Egypt  as  to 
gather  in  those  antiquities  which  are  in  the  pos- 

T 


290    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


session  of  private  persons  who  cannot  be  expected 
to  look  after  them  with  due  care. 

In  the  second  place,  a  museum  is  a  store-house 
for  historical  documents  such  as  papyri  and 
ostraca,  and  in  this  respect  it  is  simply  to  be 
regarded  as  a  kind  of  public  library,  capable  of 
unlimited  and  perfectly  legitimate  expansion. 
Such  objects  are  not  often  found  by  robbers  in  the 
tombs  which  they  have  violated,  nor  are  they 
snatched  from  temples  to  which  they  belong. 
They  are  almost  always  found  accidentally,  and  in 
a  manner  which  precludes  any  possibility  of  their 
actual  position  having  much  significance.  The 
immediate  purchase,  for  example,  by  museum 
agents  of  the  Tell  el  Amarna  tablets — the  corre- 
spondence of  a  great  Pharaoh — which  had  been 
discovered  by  accident,  and  would  perhaps  have 
been  destroyed,  was  most  wise. 

In  the  third  place,  a  museum  is  a  permanent 
exhibition  for  the  instruction  of  the  public,  and 
for  the  enlightenment  of  students  desirous  of 
obtaining  comparative  knowledge  in  any  one 
branch  of  their  work,  and  for  this  purpose  it 
should  be  well  supplied  not  so  much  with  ori- 
ginal antiquities  as  with  casts,  facsimiles,  models, 
and  reproductions  of  all  sorts. 

To  be  a  serviceable  exhibition  both  for  the 
student  and  the  public  a  museum  does  not  need 
to  possess  only  original  antiquities.  On  the  con- 
trary, as  a  repository  for  stray  objects,  a  museum 
is  not  to  be  expected  to  have  a  complete  series  of 


Archaeology  in  the  Open.  291 


original  antiquities  in  any  class,  nor  is  it  the  busi- 
ness of  the  curator  to  attempt  to  fill  up  the  gaps 
by  purchase,  except  in  special  cases.  To  do  so  is 
to  encourage  the  straying  of  other  objects.  The 
curator  so  often  labours  under  the  delusion  that  it 
is  his  first  business  to  collect  together  as  large  a 
number  as  possible  of  valuable  masterpieces.  In 
reality  that  is  a  very  secondary  matter.  His  first 
business,  if  he  is  an  Egyptologist,  is  to  see  that 
Egyptian  masterpieces  remain  in  Egypt  so  far 
as  is  practicable ;  and  his  next  is  to  save  what  has 
irrevocably  strayed  from  straying  further.  If  the 
result  of  this  policy  is  a  poor  collection,  then  he 
must  devote  so  much  the  more  time  and  money 
to  obtaining  facsimiles  and  reproductions.  The 
keeper  of  a  home  for  lost  dogs  does  not  search 
the  city  for  a  collie  with  red  spots  to  complete  his 
series  of  collies,  or  for  a  peculiarly  elongated  dachs- 
hund to  head  his  procession  of  those  animals. 
The  fewer  dogs  he  has  got  the  better  he  is 
pleased,  since  this  is  an  indication  that  a  larger 
number  are  in  safe  keeping  in  their  homes.  The 
home  of  Egyptian  antiquities  is  Egypt,  a  fact 
which  will  become  more  and  more  realised  as 
travelling  is  facilitated. 

But  the  curator  generally  has  the  insatiable 
appetite  of  the  collector.  The  authorities  of  one 
museum  bid  vigorously  against  those  of  another 
at  the  auction  which  constantly  goes  on  in  the 
shops  of  the  dealers  in  antiquities.  They  pay 
huge  prices  for  original  statues,  vases,  or  sar- 


292    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


cophagi :  prices  which  would  procure  for  them  the 
finest  series  of  casts  or  facsimiles,  or  would  give 
them  valuable  additions  to  their  legitimate  collec- 
tion of  papyri.  And  what  is  it  all  for  ?  It  is  not 
for  the  benefit  of  the  general  public,  who  could  not 
tell  the  difference  between  a  genuine  antiquity 
and  a  forgery  or  reproduction,  and  who  would  be 
perfectly  satisfied  with  the  ordinary,  miscellaneous 
collection  of  minor  antiquities.  It  is  not  for  that 
class  of  Egyptologist  which  endeavours  to  study 
Egyptian  antiquities  in  Egypt.  It  is  almost  solely 
for  the  benefit  of  the  student  and  scholar  who 
cannot,  or  will  not,  go  to  Egypt.  Soon  it  comes 
to  be  the  curator  s  pride  to  observe  that  savants 
are  hastening  to  his  museum  to  make  their 
studies.  His  civic  conceit  is  tickled  by  the 
spectacle  of  Egyptologists  travelling  long  dis- 
tances to  take  notes  in  his  metropolitan  museum. 
He  delights  to  be  able  to  say  that  the  student  can 
study  Egyptology  in  his  well-ordered  galleries  as 
easily  as  he  can  in  Egypt  itself. 

All  this  is  as  wrong  -  headed  as  it  can  be. 
While  he  is  filling  his  museum  he  does  not  seem 
to  understand  that  he  is  denuding  every  necro- 
polis in  Egypt.  I  will  give  one  or  two  instances 
of  the  destruction  wrought  by  western  museums. 
I  take  them  at  random  from  my  memory. 

In  the  year  1900  the  then  Inspector-General 
of  Antiquities  in  Upper  Egypt  discovered  a  tomb 
at  Thebes  in  which  there  was  a  beautiful  relief 
sculptured  on  one  of  the  walls,  representing  Queen 


{Photo  by  J.  C apart. 

A  relief  representing-  Queen  Tiy,  from  the  tomb  of  Userhat,  Thebes. 
— Brussels  Museum.    (See  PI.  xxvi.) 


>   Pl.  xxvii. 


Archaeology  in  the  Open.  293 


Tiy.  This  he  photographed  (Plate  XXVI.),  and 
the  tomb  was  once  more  buried.  In  1908  I  chanced 
upon  this  monument,  and  proposed  to  open  it  up 
as  a  "show  place"  for  visitors;  but  alas! — the 
relief  of  the  queen  had  disappeared,  and  only  a 
gaping  hole  in  the  wTall  remained.  It  appears 
that  robbers  had  entered  the  tomb  at  about  the 
time  of  the  change  of  inspectors ;  and,  realising 
that  this  relief  would  make  a  valuable  exhibit  for 
some  western  museum,  they  had  cut  out  of  the 
wall  as  much  as  they  could  conveniently  carry 
away — namely,  the  head  and  upper  part  of  the 
figure  of  Tiy.  The  hieroglyphic  inscription  which 
was  sculptured  near  the  head  was  carefully  erased, 
in  case  it  should  contain  some  reference  to  the 
name  of  the  tomb  from  which  they  were  taking 
the  fragment ;  and  over  the  face  some  false  in- 
scriptions were  scribbled  in  Greek  charactei^s,  so 
as  to  give  the  stone  an  unrecognisable  appearance. 
In  this  condition  it  was  conveyed  to  a  dealer's 
shop,  and  it  now  forms  one  of  the  exhibits  in  the 
Royal  Museum  at  Brussels.  The  photograph  on 
Plate  XXVII.  shows  the  fragment  as  it  appears 
after  being  cleaned. 

In  the  same  museum,  and  in  others  also,  there 
are  fragments  of  beautiful  sculpture  hacked  out 
of  the  walls  of  the  famous  tomb  of  Khaemhat  at 
Thebes.  In  the  British  Museum  there  are  large 
pieces  of  wall  -  paintings  broken  out  of  Theban 
tombs.  The  famous  inscription  in  the  tomb  of 
Anena  at  Thebes,  which  was  one  of  the  most 


294    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


important  texts  of  the  early  XVIIIth  Dynasty, 
was  smashed  to  pieces  several  years  ago  to  be 
sold  in  small  sections  to  museums  ;  and  the  scholar 
to  whom  this  volume  is  dedicated  was  instru- 
mental in  purchasing  back  for  us  eleven  of  the 
fragments,  which  have  now  been  replaced  in  the 
tomb,  and,  with  certain  fragments  in  Europe,  form 
the  sole  remnant  of  the  once  imposing  stela.  One 
of  the  most  important  scenes  out  of  the  famous 
reliefs  of  the  Expedition  to  Pount,  at  Der  el  Bahri, 
found  its  way  into  the  hands  of  the  dealers,  and 
was  ultimately  purchased  by  our  museum  in  Cairo. 
The  beautiful  and  important  reliefs  which  dec- 
orated the  tomb  of  Horemheb  at  Sakkara,  hacked 
out  of  the  walls  by  robbers,  are  now  exhibited  in 
six  different  museums :  London,  Ley  den,  Vienna, 
Bologna,  Alexandria,  and  Cairo.  Of  the  two  hun- 
dred tombs  of  the  nobles  now  to  be  seen  at  Thebes, 
I  cannot,  at  the  moment,  recall  a  single  one  which 
has  not  suffered  in  this  manner  at  some  time  pre- 
vious to  the  organisation  of  the  present  strict 
supervision. 

The  curators  of  western  museums  will  argue 
that  had  they  not  purchased  these  fragments  they 
would  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  less  desirable 
owners.  This  is  quite  true,  and,  indeed,  it  forms 
the  nearest  approach  to  justification  that  can  be 
discovered.  Nevertheless,  it  has  to  be  remem- 
bered that  this  purchasing  of  antiquities  is  the 
best  stimulus  to  the  robber,  who  is  well  aware 
that  a  market  is  always  to  be  found  for  his  stolen 


Archaeology  in  the  Open.  295 


goods.  It  may  seem  difficult  to  censure  the  pur- 
chaser, for  certainly  the  fragments  were  "stray" 
when  the  bargain  was  struck,  and  it  is  the  busi- 
ness of  the  curator  to  collect  stray  antiquities. 
But  why  were  they  stray  ?  Why  were  they  ever 
cut  from  the  walls  of  the  Egyptian  monuments  ? 
Assuredly  because  the  robbers  knew  that  museums 
would  purchase  them.  If  there  had  been  no  de- 
mand there  would  have  been  no  supply. 

To  ask  the  curators  to  change  their  policy,  and 
to  purchase  only  those  objects  which  are  legiti- 
mately on  sale,  would,  of  course,  be  as  futile  as 
to  ask  the  nations  to  disarm.  The  rivalry  be- 
tween museum  and  museum  would  alone  prevent 
a  cessation  of  this  indiscriminate  traffic.  I  can 
see  only  one  way  in  which  a  more  sane  and  moral 
attitude  can  be  introduced,  and  that  is  by  the 
development  of  the  habit  of  visiting  Egypt  and 
of  working  upon  archaeological  subjects  in  the 
shadow  of  the  actual  monuments.  Only  the  per- 
son who  is  familiar  with  Egypt  can  know  the  cost 
of  supplying  the  stay-at-home  scholar  with  ex- 
hibits for  his  museums.  Only  one  who  has  resided 
in  Egypt  can  understand  the  fact  that  Egypt 
itself  is  the  true  museum  for  Egyptian  antiquities. 
He  alone  can  appreciate  the  work  of  the  Egyptian 
Government  in  preserving  the  remains  of  ancient 
days. 

The  resident  in  Egypt,  interested  in  archaeology, 
comes  to  look  with  a  kind  of  horror  upon  museums, 
and  to  feel  extraordinary  hostility  to  what  may 


296    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


be  called  the  museum  spirit.  He  sees  with  his 
own  eyes  the  half-destroyed  tombs,  which  to  the 
museum  curator  are  things  far  off  and  not  visual- 
ised. While  the  curator  is  blandly  saying  to  his 
visitor :  "  See,  I  will  now  show  you  a  beautiful 
fragment  of  sculpture  from  a  distant  and  little- 
known  Theban  tomb,"  the  white  resident  in  Egypt, 
with  black  murder  in  his  heart,  is  saying :  "  See, 
I  will  show  you  a  beautiful  tomb  of  which  the 
best  part  of  one  wall  is  utterly  destroyed  that  a 
fragment  might  be  hacked  out  for  a  distant  and 
little-known  European  museum." 

To  a  resident  in  Europe,  Egypt  seems  to  be  a 
strange  and  barbaric  land,  far,  far  away  beyond 
the  hills  and  seas ;  and  her  monuments  are 
thought  to  be  at  the  mercy  of  wild  Bedwin 
Arabs.  In  the  less  recent  travel  books  there  is 
not  a  published  drawing  of  a  temple  in  the  Nile 
valley  but  has  its  complement  of  Arab  figures 
grouped  in  picturesque  attitudes.  Here  a  fire  is 
being  lit  at  the  base  of  a  column,  and  the  black 
smoke  curls  upwards  to  destroy  the  paintings 
thereon ;  here  a  group  of  children  sport  upon  the 
lap  of  a  colossal  statue  ;  and  here  an  Arab  tethers 
his  camel  at  the  steps  of  the  high  altar.  It  is 
felt,  thus,  that  the  objects  exhibited  in  European 
museums  have  been  rescued  from  Egypt  and  re- 
covered from  a  distant  land.  This  is  not  so. 
They  have  been  snatched  from  Egypt  and  lost 
to  the  country  of  their  origin. 

He  who  is  well  acquainted  with  Egypt  knows 


Archaeology  in  the  Open.  297 


that  hundreds  of  watchmen,  and  a  small  army 
of  inspectors,  engineers,  draughtsmen,  surveyors, 
and  other  officials  now  guard  these  monuments, 
that  strong  iron  gates  bar  the  doorways  against 
unauthorised  visitors,  that  hourly  patrols  pass 
from  monument  to  monument,  and  that  any 
damage  done  is  punished  by  long  terms  of  im- 
prisonment ;  he  knows  that  the  Egyptian  Govern- 
ment spends  hundreds  of  thousands  of  pounds 
upon  safeguarding  the  ancient  remains ;  he  is 
aware  that  the  organisation  of  the  Department 
of  Antiquities  is  an  extremely  important  branch 
of  the  Ministry  of  Public  Works.  He  has  seen 
the  temples  swept  and  garnished,  the  tombs  lit 
with  electric  light,  and  the  sanctuaries  carefully 
rebuilt.  He  has  spun  out  to  the  Pyramids  in  the 
electric  tram  or  in  a  taxi-cab  ;  has  strolled  in  even- 
ing dress  and  opera  hat  through  the  halls  of 
Karnak,  after  dinner  at  the  hotel ;  and  has  rung 
up  the  Theban  Necropolis  on  the  telephone. 

A  few  seasons'  residence  in  Egypt  shifts  the 
point  of  view  in  a  startling  manner.  No  longer 
is  the  country  either  distant  or  insecure ;  and, 
realising  this,  the  student  becomes  more  balanced, 
and  he  sees  both  sides  of  the  question  with  equal 
clearness.  The  archaeologist  may  complain  that  it 
is  too  expensive  a  matter  to  come  to  Egypt.  But 
why,  then,  are  not  the  expenses  of  such  a  journey 
met  by  the  various  museums  ?  A  hundred  pounds 
will  pay  for  a  student's  winter  in  Egypt  and  his 
journey  to  and  from  that  country.    Such  a  sum 


298    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


is  given  readily  enough  for  the  purchase  of  an 
antiquity ;  but  surely  rightly-minded  students  are 
a  better  investment  than  wrongly  -  acquired  an- 
tiquities. 

It  must  now  be  pointed  out,  as  a  third  argu- 
ment, that  an  Egyptologist  cannot  study  his  sub- 
ject properly  unless  he  be  thoroughly  familiar  with 
Egypt  and  the  modern  Egyptians. 

A  student  who  is  accustomed  to  sit  at  home, 
working  in  his  library  or  museum,  and  who  has 
never  resided  in  Egypt,  or  has  but  travelled  for 
a  short  time  in  that  country,  may  do  extremely 
useful  work  in  one  way  and  another,  but  that 
work  will  not  be  faultless.  It  will  be,  as  it  were, 
lop-sided  ;  it  will  be  coloured  with  hues  of  the 
west,  unknown  to  the  land  of  the  Pharaohs  and 
antithetical  thereto.  A  London  architect  may 
design  an  apparently  charming  villa  for  a  client  in 
Jerusalem,  but  unless  he  knows  by  actual  and  pro- 
longed experience  the  exigencies  of  the  climate  of 
Palestine,  he  will  be  liable  to  make  a  sad  mess  of 
his  job.  By  bitter  experience  the  military  com- 
manders learnt  in  South  Africa  that  a  plan  of 
campaign  prepared  in  England  was  of  little  use 
to  them.  The  cricketer  may  play  a  very  good 
game  upon  the  home  ground,  but  upon  a  foreign 
pitch  the  first  straight  ball  will  send  his  bails 
flying  into  the  clear  blue  sky. 

An  archaeologist  who  attempts  to  record  the 
material  relating  to  the  manners  and  customs  of 
the  ancient  Egyptians  cannot  complete  his  task, 


Archaeology  in  the  Open.  299 


or  even  assure  himself  of  the  accuracy  of  his  state- 
ments, unless  he  has  studied  the  modern  customs 
and  has  made  himself  acquainted  with  the  per- 
manent conditions  of  the  country.  The  modern 
Egyptians,  as  has  been  pointed  out  in  chapter  ii. 
(page  28),  are  the  same  people  as  those  who  bowed 
the  knee  to  Pharaoh,  and  many  of  their  customs 
still  survive.  A  student  can  no  more  hope  to 
understand  the  story  of  Pharaonic  times  without 
an  acquaintance  with  Egypt  as  she  now  is  than  a 
modern  statesman  can  hope  to  understand  his  own 
times  solely  from  a  study  of  the  past. 

Nothing  is  more  paralysing  to  a  student  of 
archaeology  than  continuous  book- work.  A  collec- 
tion of  hard  facts  is  an  extremely  beneficial  mental 
exercise,  but  the  deductions  drawn  from  such  a 
collection  should  be  regarded  as  an  integral  part 
of  the  work.  The  road  -  maker  must  also  walk 
upon  his  road  to  the  land  whither  it  leads  him ; 
the  shipbuilder  must  ride  the  seas  in  his  vessel, 
though  they  be  uncharted  and  unfathomed.  Too 
often  the  professor  will  set  his  students  to  a  com- 
pilation which  leads  them  no  farther  than  the  final 
fair  copy.  They  will  be  asked  to  make  for  him, 
with  infinite  labour,  a  list  of  the  High  Priests  of 
Amon ;  but  unless  he  has  encouraged  them  to  put 
such  life  into  those  figures  that  each  one  seems  to 
step  from  the  page  to  confront  his  recorder,  unless 
the  name  of  each  calls  to  mind  the  very  scenes 
amidst  which  he  worshipped,  then  is  the  work 
uninspired  and  as  deadening  to  the  student  as  it  is 


300    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


useful  to  the  professor.  A  catalogue  of  ancient 
scarabs  is  required,  let  us  suppose,  and  students 
are  set  to  work  upon  it.  They  examine  hundreds 
of  specimens,  they  record  the  variations  in  design, 
they  note  the  differences  in  the  glaze  or  material. 
But  can  they  picture  the  man  who  wore  the  scarab? 
— can  they  reconstruct  in  their  minds  the  scene  in 
the  workshop  wherein  the  scarab  was  made  % — can 
they  hear  the  song  of  the  workmen  or  their  laugh- 
ter when  the  overseer  was  not  nigh  ?  In  a  word, 
does  the  scarab  mean  history  to  them,  the  history 
of  a  period,  of  a  dynasty,  of  a  craft  ?  Assuredly 
not,  unless  the  students  know  Egypt  and  the 
Egyptians,  have  heard  their  songs  and  their  laugh- 
ter, have  watched  their  modern  arts  and  crafts. 
Only  then  are  they  in  a  position  to  reconstruct  the 
picture. 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  in  his  Romanes  lecture  at 
Oxford,  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  industrious 
collector  of  facts  occupied  an  honourable  but  not 
an  exalted  position  ;  and  he  added  that  the  merely 
scientific  historian  must  rest  content  with  the 
honour,  substantial,  but  not  of  the  highest  type, 
that  belongs  to  him  who  gathers  material  which 
some  time  some  master  shall  arise  to  use.  Now 
every  student  should  aim  to  be  a  master,  to  use 
the  material  which  he  has  so  laboriously  collected ; 
and  though  at  the  beginning  of  his  career,  and 
indeed  throughout  his  life,  the  gathering  of 
material  is  a  most  important  part  of  his  work,  he 


Archaeology  in  the  Open.  301 


should  never  compile  solely  for  the  sake  of  com- 
pilation, unless  he  be  content  to  serve  simply  as  a 
clerk  of  archaeology. 

An  archaeologist  must  be  an  historian.  He  must 
conjure  up  the  past;  he  must  play  the  Witch  of 
Endor.  His  lists  and  indices,  his  catalogues  and 
note-books,  must  be  but  the  spells  which  he  uses 
to  invoke  the  dead.  The  spells  have  no  potency 
until  they  are  pronounced  :  the  lists  of  the  kings 
of  Egypt  have  no  more  than  an  accidental  value 
until  they  call  before  the  curtain  of  the  mind  those 
monarchs  themselves.  It  is  the  business  of  the 
archaeologist  to  awake  the  dreaming  dead :  not 
to  send  the  living  to  sleep.  It  is  his  business  to 
make  the  stones  tell  their  tale :  not  to  petrify  the 
listener.  It  is  his  business  to  put  motion  and  com- 
motion into  the  past  that  the  present  may  see  and 
hear  ;  not  to  pin  it  down,  spatchcocked,  like  a 
dead  thing.  In  a  word,  the  archaeologist  must  be 
in  command  of  that  faculty  which  is  known  as  the 
historic  imagination,  without  which  Dean  Stanley 
was  of  opinion  that  the  story  of  the  past  could  not 
be  told. 

But  how  can  that  imagination  be  at  once  exerted 
and  controlled,  as  it  must  needs  be,  unless  the 
archaeologist  is  so  well  acquainted  with  the  con- 
ditions of  the  country  about  which  he  writes  that 
his  pictures  of  it  can  be  said  to  be  accurate  ?  The 
student  must  allow  himself  to  be  saturated  by  the 
very  waters  of  the  Nile  before  he  can  permit  him- 


302    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


self  to  write  of  Egypt.  He  must  know  the  modern 
Egyptians  before  he  can  construct  his  model  of 
Pharaoh  and  his  court. 

In  a  recent  London  play  dealing  with  ancient 
Egypt,  the  actor  -  manager  exerted  his  historic 
imagination,  in  one  scene,  in  so  far  as  to  introduce 
a  shadoof  or  water-hoist,  which  was  worked  as  a 
naturalistic  side-action  to  the  main  incident.  But, 
unfortunately,  it  was  displayed  upon  a  hillside 
where  no  water  could  ever  have  reached  it ;  and 
thus  the  audience,  all  unconsciously,  was  con- 
fronted with  the  remarkable  spectacle  of  a  hus- 
bandman applying  himself  diligently  to  the  task 
of  ladelling  thin  air  on  to  crops  that  grew  upon 
barren  sand.  If  only  his  imagination  had  been 
controlled  by  a  knowledge  of  Egypt,  the  picture 
might  have  been  both  true  and  effective. 

When  the  mummy  of  Akhuaton  was  discovered 
and  was  proved  to  be  that  of  a  man  of  twenty- 
eight  years  of  age,  many  persons  doubted  the 
identification  on  the  grounds  that  the  king  was 
known  to  have  been  married  at  the  time  when  he 
came  to  the  throne,  seventeen  years  before  his 
death,1  and  it  was  freely  stated  that  a  marriage  at 
the  age  of  ten  or  eleven  was  impossible  and  out  of 
the  question.  Thus  it  actually  remained  for  the 
present  writer  to  point  out  that  the  fact  of  the 
king's  death  occurring  seventeen  years  after  his 
marriage  practically  fixed  his  age  at  his  decease 

1  Weigall :  Life  of  Akhnaton,  p.  56. 


Archaeology  in  the  Open.  303 


at  not  much  above  twenty-eight  years,  so  unlikely 
was  it  that  his  marriage  would  have  been  delayed 
beyond  his  eleventh  year.  Those  who  doubted 
the  identification  on  such  grounds  were  showing 
all  too  clearly  that  the  manners  and  customs  of 
the  Egyptians  of  the  nineteenth  and  twentieth 
centuries,  so  many  of  which  have  come  down  in- 
tact from  olden  times,  were  unknown  to  them. 

Here  we  come  to  the  root  of  the  trouble.  The 
Egyptologist  who  has  not  resided  for  some  time  in 
Egypt  is  inclined  to  allow  his  ideas  regarding  the 
ancient  customs  of  the  land  to  be  influenced  by  his 
unconsciously-acquired  knowledge  of  the  habits  of 
the  west.  Men  do  not  marry  before  the  age  of 
eighteen  or  twenty  in  Europe :  therefore  they  did  not 
do  so  in  Egypt.  There  are  streams  of  water  upon 
the  mountains  in  Europe  :  therefore  water  may  be 
hoisted  upon  the  hillsides  in  Egypt.  But  is  he 
blind  that  he  sees  not  the  great  gulf  fixed  between 
the  ways  of  the  east  and  those  of  his  accustomed 
west?  It  is  of  no  value  to  science  to  record  the 
life  of  Thutmosis  III.  with  Napoleon  as  our  model 
for  it,  nor  to  describe  the  daily  life  of  the  Pharaoh 
with  the  person  of  an  English  king  before  our 
mind's  eye.  Our  European  experience  will  not 
give  us  material  for  the  imagination  to  work  upon 
in  dealing  with  Egypt.  The  setting  for  our 
Pharaonic  pictures  must  be  derived  from  Egypt 
alone ;  and  no  Egyptologist's  work  that  is  more 
than  a  simple  compilation  is  of  value  unless  the 


304    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


sunlight  and  the  sandy  glare  of  Egypt  have  burnt 
into  his  eyes,  and  have  been  reflected  on  to  the 
pages  under  his  pen. 

The  archaeologist  must  possess  the  historic  im- 
agination, but  it  must  be  confined  to  its  proper 
channels.  It  is  impossible  to  exert  this  imagina- 
tion without,  as  a  consequence,  a  figure  rising  up 
before  the  mind  partially  furnished  with  the 
details  of  a  personality  and  fully  endowed  with 
the  broad  character  of  an  individual.  The  first 
lesson,  thus,  which  we  must  learn  is  that  of  allow- 
ing no  incongruity  to  appear  in  our  figures.  A 
king  whose  name  has  survived  to  us  upon  some 
monument  becomes  at  once  such  a  reality  that  the 
legends  concerning  him  are  apt  to  be  accepted  as 
so  much  fact.    Like  John  Donne  one  says — 

w  Thou  art  so  true,  that  thoughts  of  thee  suffice 
To  make  dreams  truth,,  and  fables  histories." 

But  only  he  who  has  resided  in  Egypt  can  judge 
how  far  the  fables  are  to  be  regarded  as  having  a 
nucleus  of  truth.  In  ancient  history  there  can 
seldom  be  sufficient  data  at  the  Egyptologist's 
disposal  with  which  to  build  up  a  complete  figure ; 
and  his  puppets  must  come  upon  the  stage  sadly 
deficient,  as  it  were,  in  arms,  legs,  and  apparel 
suitable  to  them,  unless  he  knows  from  an  experi- 
ence of  modern  Egyptians  how  to  restore  them  and 
to  clothe  them  in  good  taste.  The  substance  upon 
which  the  imagination  works  must  be  no  less  than 
a  collective  knowledge  of  the  people  of  the  nation 


Archaeology  in  the  Open.  305 


in  question.  Raineses  must  be  constructed  from 
an  acquaintance  with  many  a  Pasha  of  modern 
Egypt,  and  his  Chief  Butler  must  reflect  the 
known  characteristics  of  a  hundred  Beys  and 
Effendis.  Without  such  "  padding"  the  figures 
will  remain  but  names,  and  with  names  Egyptology 
is  already  overstocked. 

It  is  remarkable  to  notice  how  little  is  known 
regarding  the  great  personalities  in  history.  Tak- 
ing three  characters  at  random :  we  know  extremely 
little  that  is  authentic  regarding  King  Arthur  ;  our 
knowledge  of  the  actual  history  of  Robin  Hood  is 
extremely  meagre  ;  and  the  precise  historian  would 
have  to  dismiss  Cleopatra  in  a  few  paragraphs. 
But  let  the  archaeologist  know  so  well  the  manners 
and  customs  of  the  period  with  which  he  is  dealing 
that  he  will  not,  like  the  author  of  the  stories  of 
the  Holy  Grail,  dress  Arthur  in  the  armour  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  nor  fill  the  mind  of  Cleopatra 
with  the  thoughts  of  the  Elizabethan  poet ;  let 
him  be  so  well  trained  in  scientific  cautiousness 
that  he  will  not  give  unquestioned  credence  to  the 
legends  of  the  past ;  let  him  have  sufficient  know- 
ledge of  the  nation  to  which  his  hero  or  heroine 
belonged  to  be  able  to  fill  up  the  lacunas  with  a 
kind  of  collective  appreciation  and  estimate  of  the 
national  characteristics, — and  I  do  not  doubt  that 
his  interpretations  will  hold  good  till  the  end  of  all 
history. 

The  student  to  whom  Egypt  is  not  a  living 
reality  is  handicapped  in  his  labours  more  unfairly 

u 


306    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 


than  is  realised  by  him.  Avoid  Egypt,  and  though 
your  brains  be  of  vast  capacity,  though  your  eyes 
be  never  raised  from  your  books,  you  will  yet 
remain  in  many  ways  an  ignoramus,  liable  to  be 
corrected  by  the  merest  tourist  in  the  Nile  valley. 
But  come  with  me  to  a  Theban  garden  that  I 
know,  where,  on  some  still  evening,  the  dark 
palms  are  reflected  in  the  placid  Nile,  and  the 
acacias  are  mellowed  by  the  last  light  of  the  sun- 
set ;  where,  in  leafy  bowers,  the  grapes  cluster 
overhead,  and  the  fig-tree  is  burdened  with  fruit. 
Beyond  the  broad  sheet  of  the  river  rise  those  un- 
changeable hills  which  encompass  the  Valley  of 
the  Tombs  of  the  Kings  ;  and  at  their  foot,  dimly 
seen  in  the  evening  haze,  sit  the  twin  colossi,  as 
they  have  sat  since  the  days  of  Amenhotep  the 
Magnificent.  The  stars  begin  to  be  seen  through 
the  leaves  now  that  the  daylight  dies,  and  pres- 
ently the  Milky  Way  becomes  apparent,  stretching 
across  the  vault  of  the  night,  as  when  it  was 
believed  to  be  the  Nile  of  the  Heavens. 

The  owls  hoot  to  one  another  through  the  gar- 
den; and  at  the  edge  of  the  alabaster  tank  wherein 
the  dusk  is  mirrored,  a  frog  croaks  unseen  amidst 
the  lilies.  Even  so  croaked  he  on  this  very  ground 
in  those  days  when,  typifying  eternity,  he  seemed 
to  utter  the  endless  refrain,  "  I  am  the  resurrection, 
I  am  the  resurrection,"  into  the  ears  of  men  and 
maidens  beneath  these  self-same  stars. 

And  now  a  boat  floats  past,  on  its  way  to 
Karnak,  silhouetted  against  the  last-left  light  of 


Archaeology  in  the  Open.  307 


the  sky.  There  is  music  and  song  on  board.  The 
sound  of  the  pipes  is  carried  over  the  water  and 
pulses  to  the  ears,  inflaming  the  imagination  with 
the  sorcery  of  its  cadences  and  stirring  the  blood 
by  its  bold  rhythm.  The  gentle  breeze  brings  the 
scent  of  many  flowers  to  the  nostrils,  and  with 
these  come  drifting  thoughts  and  undefined  fancies, 
so  that  presently  the  busy  considerations  of  the 
day  are  lulled  and  forgotten.  The  twilight  seems 
to  cloak  the  extent  of  the  years,  and  in  the  gather- 
ing darkness  the  procession  of  the  centuries  is 
hidden.  Yesterday  and  to-day  are  mingled  to- 
gether, and  there  is  nothing  to  distinguish  to  the 
eye  the  one  age  from  the  other.  An  immortal, 
brought  suddenly  to  the  garden  at  this  hour,  could 
not  say  from  direct  observation  whether  he  had 
descended  from  the  clouds  into  the  twentieth 
century  before  or  the  twentieth  century  after 
Christ ;  and  the  sound  of  the  festal  pipes  in  the 
passing  boat  would  but  serve  to  confuse  him  the 
more. 

In  such  a  garden  as  this  the  student  will  learn 
more  Egyptology  than  he  could  assimilate  in  many 
an  hour's  study  at  home  ;  for  here  his  five  senses 
play  the  student  and  Egypt  herself  is  his  teacher. 
While  he  may  read  in  his  books  how  this  Pharaoh 
or  that  feasted  o'  nights  in  his  palace  beside  the 
river,  here,  not  in  fallible  imagination  but  in  actual 
fact,  he  may  see  Nilus  and  the  Libyan  desert  to 
which  the  royal  eyes  were  turned,  may  smell  the 
very  perfume  of  the  palace  garden,  and  may  hearken 


308    The  Preservation  of  the  Treasury. 

to  the  self-same  sounds  that  lulled  a  king  to  sleep 
in  Hundred-gated  Thebes. 

Not  in  the  west,  but  only  by  the  waters  of  the 
Nile  will  he  learn  how  best  to  be  an  historian  of 
ancient  Egypt,  and  in  what  manner  to  make  his 
studies  of  interest,  as  well  as  of  technical  value,  to 
his  readers,  for  he  will  here  discover  the  great 
secret  of  his  profession.  Suddenly  the  veil  will  be 
lifted  from  his  understanding,  and  he  will  become 
aware  that  Past  and  Present  are  so  indissoluble  as 
to  be  incapable  of  separate  interpretation  or  single 
study.  He  will  learn  that  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  a  distinct  Past  or  a  defined  Present.  "  Yester- 
day this  day's  madness  did  prepare,"  and  the 
affairs  of  bygone  times  must  be  interpreted  in  the 
light  of  recent  events.  The  Past  is  alive  to-day, 
and  all  the  deeds  of  man  in  all  the  ages  are  living 
at  this  hour  in  offspring.  There  is  no  real  death. 
The  earthly  grave  will  not  hide,  nor  the  mountain 
tomb  imprison,  the  actions  of  the  men  of  old 
Egypt,  so  consequent  and  fruitful  are  all  human 
affairs.  This  is  the  knowledge  which  will  make 
his  work  of  lasting  value ;  and  nowhere  save  in 
Egypt  can  he  acquire  it.  This,  indeed,  is  the  secret 
of  the  Sphinx  ;  and  only  at  the  lips  of  the  Sphinx 
itself  can  he  learn  it. 


FRINTBD  BY  WILLIAM  BLACKWOOD  ANI  ?ON6. 


DT60  .W41 

The  treasury  of  ancient  Egypt 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1  1012  00049  5996 


